Page 76 - Coronavirus

RT-PCR test report must for travellers from China, 4 other countries

A pre-departure RT-PCR negative test report will be mandatory from January 1, 2023 for passengers coming in all international flights from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan. From January 1, 2023, airlines are directed to modify their check-in functionalities to incorporate the changes and issue boarding passes only to those international passengers travelling from these five countries who have submitted self-declaration forms on the Air Suvidha portal. The Ministry of Civil Aviation on December 30, issued revised Covid guidelines for passengers arriving in international flights. RT-PCR testing should have been done 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey. The current practice of random testing of 2 per cent of arriving passengers in each international flight will also continue. These decisions have been taken amid rising cases of coronavirus infections in various parts of the world and reports regarding the circulation of variants of SARS-CoV

India logs 226 fresh coronavirus cases; active tally increase to 3,653

India reported 226 fresh Covid cases on Saturday in the last 24 hours, a marginal decline against against the 243 infections registered the previous day, the Union Health Ministry said

LIVE: Oppn should work in a coordinated manner for 2024, says Rahul Gandhi

Live news updates: "My main focus right now is for a united India, we should fight against hatred. My focus is only to unite India," he said.

China's economic activity at slowest since 2020 as Covid-19 spreads

China's abrupt reversal of its Covid Zero policy pushed economic activity - its service sector in particular - to the slowest pace since February 2020, as the virus swept through major cities

New Omicron subvariant accounts for over 40% of new Covid-19 cases in US

New Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 is estimated to account for 40.5 per cent of Covid-19 cases in the US in the week ending December 31, nearly doubling from the previous week

Recovery, expansion, Covid air pockets await Indian aviation sector in 2023

With tailwinds of high domestic air passenger traffic and airlines' ambitious expansion plans, the country's civil aviation sector is firmly on a V-shaped recovery trajectory but the gathering Covid clouds and geopolitical headwinds could cause turbulence in 2023. Air India's plans for expansion and consolidation of operations, IndiGo's focus on wide-body planes, Jet Airways' future flight path and airlines' overall profitability will be key factors for the aviation sector, which has been witnessing more than four lakh domestic passengers daily for the past few weeks. All said, global supply chain disruptions that have caused shortage of aircraft components and delay in plane deliveries, as well as spurt in coronavirus cases globally are concerns. From Tata group taking control of loss-making Air India to Akasa Air commencing operations to Jet Airways' future remaining uncertain, 2022 leaves the domestic airlines' industry with many key developments. Also, the government's ECLGS ...

WHO again urges China to regularly share data on Covid-19 situation

The World Health Organization has again urged China to regularly share specific and real-time data on the COVID-19 situation in the country, amid a surge in coronavirus cases after Beijing relaxed its strict "zero-COVID" policy. The global health agency has asked Chinese health officials to share data on genetic sequencing, hospitalisations, deaths and vaccinations. A high-level meeting took place between officials from WHO and China on the current surge in COVID-19 cases to seek further information on the situation, and to offer WHO's expertise and further support, a WHO statement said on Friday. WHO again asked for regular sharing of specific and real-time data on the epidemiological situation including more genetic sequencing data, data on disease impact including hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths and data on vaccinations delivered and vaccination status, especially in vulnerable people and those over 60 years old, it added. WHO reiterated the importance of vaccinatio

China factory activity worsens in Dec after sudden reversal of Covid Zero

The official manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 47 this month from November's 48, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday

Covid-mutation risk drives rush to test travellers from China across world

Covid-19 testing requirements for passengers traveling from China highlight mounting concerns about the potential for undetected new strains of the virus spawned by the country's burgeoning outbreak

2022: When India learnt to live with Covid as the virus eased its grip

The health sector returned to the old normal; the advice for 2023 is 'watchfulness and appropriate response'

Covid-19 strategy was 'optimised', says Chinese premier Xi Jinping

Country approves Merck's Covid-19 antiviral as drug shortage continues

MoCA asks airlines to modify check-in systems from China, 5 other countries

The civil aviation ministry on Friday asked airlines to modify their check-in systems for international passengers coming into India as part of the revised Covid guidelines, which makes a negative Covid test report a must for travellers coming from China and five other countries from Sunday. The ministry's direction comes a day after the health ministry decided to make RT-PCR negative test reports compulsory for passengers coming on all international flights from six high-risk countries --China, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan. The new rule will come into effect from January 1, 2023, amid rising coronavirus cases in these six countries and some other parts of the world. Airlines are directed to modify their check-in functionalities to incorporate the changes and issue boarding passes only to those international passengers travelling from the six countries who have submitted self-declaration forms on the Air Suvidha portal, the Ministry of Civil ...

Delhi traders' body claims 30% decline in New Year business amid Covid fear

A traders' body in the national capital has claimed that there had been a 30 per cent decline in business ahead of the New Year amid a spurt in Covid-19 cases in some countries. While the COVID-19 pandemic hit New Year celebrations during the past two years, this time, traders were busy preparing to begin 2023 on a grand scale, the Chamber of Trade and Industry said. There was a boom in all sectors -- restaurants, banquet hall and hotel bookings, clothing, jewellery and automobile sales, the traders' body said. However, with Covid-affected people not getting hospital beds in China and Japan, panic levels have gone up in India as well. Along with the fear of Covid, the winter chill has also forced people to stay home, it added. It is estimated that usually there is business of Rs 500 crore in the New Year but it will only be Rs 350 crore this time. The number of customers in the markets has also dropped by 30 to 40 per cent, said organisation member Brijesh Goyal. Vishnu Bhargava a

Covid travel curbs against Chinese visitors 'discriminatory': Report

Some places have been taken aback by the scale of outbreak and expressed scepticism, with the US, S Korea, India, Italy, Japan and Taiwan imposing Covid tests for travellers from China

RT-PCR report mandatory for intl' arrivals from 6 countries from Jan 1

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Friday issued revised Covid guidelines for passengers arriving in international flights, ahead of RT-PCR negative test report being made compulsory for travellers from six countries, including China and Thailand. From January 1, 2023, a pre-departure RT-PCR negative test report will be mandatory for passengers coming in all international flights from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan. Airlines are directed to modify their check-in functionalities to incorporate the changes and issue boarding passes only to those international passengers travelling from the six countries who have submitted self-declaration forms on the Air Suvidha portal, the ministry said in a communication. "Air Suvidha portal self-declaration has been made operational for passengers travelling in all international flights from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan, with a provision to allow these international ...

Covid-19 might not go away but no major outbreak likely in India: Expert

It is unlikely that Covid will be completely eliminated but there seems little chance of a significant outbreak of the disease in India in the next two months, a top infectious diseases expert said on Friday. The remarks of Dr Parvaiz Koul, director of the SKIMS Hospital in Kashmir, came in the backdrop of the highly transmissible Omicron strains, mostly BF.7, causing a spike in coronavirus cases in many countries, including China. "It is uncertain when or if Covid will become an endemic, but it is unlikely that it will be completely eliminated. We may see occasional outbreaks, if new mutations emerge, like in China. In India, it seems unlikely that there will be a significant new outbreak in the next two-three months," Koul, a leading pulmonologist and researcher on infectious diseases, said. Taking to Twitter, Koul said India had an advantage in dealing with Covid due to widespread hybrid immunity but suggested that the high-risk group might have to go for a booster dose. There i

Japan tests all arrivals from China for Covid-19 amid surging cases

Japan on Friday started requiring COVID-19 tests for all passengers arriving from China as an emergency measure against surging infections there and as Japan faces rising case numbers and record-level deaths at home. Japan reported a record 420 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, one day after reaching an earlier single-day record of 415 deaths, according to the Health Ministry. The numbers are higher than the daily deaths at the peak of an earlier wave in August, when they exceeded 300. Experts say the reason for the latest increase is unclear but could be linked to deaths from the worsening of chronic illnesses among elderly patients. Japan tightened its border measures on Friday, making the antigen test that was already conducted on entrants suspected of having COVID-19 mandatory for all people arriving from mainland China. Those who test positive will be quarantined for up to seven days at designated facilities and their samples will be used for genome analysis. The measures be

India reports 243 new Covid-19 cases, active infections rise to 3,609

India recorded 243 new coronavirus infections, raising the tally to 4.46 crore, while the active cases have increased to 3,609, according to Union health ministry data updated on Friday. The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4,46,78, 158 and the death toll stands at 5,30,699 with one fatality reported from Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.11 per cent while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.16 per cent, the ministry said. It said 2,13,080 tests for detection of Covid have been conducted in the last 24 hours. The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry's website. It said an increase of 57 cases has been recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,41,43,850, while the case fatality r

China's economic activity rebounds in cities where Covid-19 peaked

While mobility still remains well below pre-pandemic levels, the quick rebound in activity in cities like Beijing - where the outbreak was most severe - suggests the economy could recover faster

China could face deluge of Covid deaths in new year without pandemic curbs

By the end of April 2023, China may see 1.7 million deaths from this wave of infections, Airfinity said