New Delhi, Jan 5 (Representative) About 124 international passengers have tested positive for COVID-19 after they were screened on their arrival in India over the last 11 days, official sources have said. 19, 227 passengers arriving in India from other countries were screened between December 23 and January 3 at airports, seaports and land ports, official said, adding that 124 of them tested positive. These passengers were found to be infected with 11 various sub-variants of Omicron, sources say. The country is on its toes with the latest spike in cases in some countries and the focus is back on Covid-appropriate behaviour such as wearing masks and maintaining physical distance. Last month, India introduced random testing at airports to detect any possible new variant.
Besides, passengers arriving in India from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand are being mandatorily required to provide Covid negative reports. A nationwide mock drill was conducted last month at hospitals and health care centres, with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visiting Safdarjung Hospital in the national capital to review the Covid preparedness.Prime Minister Narendra Modi also chaired a high-level meeting on December 22 to assess the Covid situation in the country as well as the readiness of the health infrastructure. Overall cases in India continue to be relatively meagre, at fewer than 200 daily for several days now.