Covid-19 negative report must for foreigners coming to India

India is planning to make a Covid-19 negative report mandatory for passengers arriving from countries with a high number of cases, the country's health minister said during an interview with broadcaster NewsX on Friday.

"In the next one week, selected countries will be identified where the caseload is higher," Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.

"People from the countries with the high number of Covid cases will have to upload their RT-PCR reports and only then they will be allowed to come."

The passengers will have to upload their reports on a government website and undergo thermal screening upon landing, Mandaviya said.

India, which has reported the second highest number of confirmed Covid cases in the world till date, will start randomly testing 2 per cent of international passengers arriving at its airports for Covid-19, Mandaviya told the parliament on Thursday.

Earlier this week, the country's government asked the Indian states to look out for any new variants of the virus and urged people to wear masks in crowded areas, citing an increase in Covid-19 cases in China and other parts of the globe.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya met senior government officials on Wednesday to discuss the matter, with all those present wearing masks - a practice that has not been mandatory in most parts of the country for several months.

"Covid is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance," he said on Twitter. "We are prepared to manage any situation."

Local media reported on Wednesday that India has detected at least three cases of the highly transmissible BF.7 Omicron sub-variant so far, which in October led to a surge in Covid-19 infections in China.

China has registered a surge in infections after ending strict restrictions, while data from the World Health Organization shows infections have risen in countries including Japan, South Korea and the United States in recent days.

The Indian government has asked all states to ensure that samples of positive cases are sent to the country's 54 designated genome sequencing laboratories.

Some opposition leaders and Twitter users in India have called for a suspension of flights to and from China. A government source, which was not authorised to speak to the media and declined to be identified, said there was no such plan.