The Indian Health Ministry has given a fresh six-point advisory to the states to face any Covid emergency amid rising cases in China. India has reported a handful of the BF.7 strain that's running amok in the neighbouring country.
All travellers coming from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand will have to show a negative Covid certificate, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday, reports NDTV.
Passengers from those countries would be put under quarantine if they showed symptoms or test positive, he added.
Oxygen shortage was initially a big problem during the initial days of the second wave in India in mid-2021. In light of the recent situation, the government issued an advisory on medical oxygen management.
The advisory says PSA plants are to be kept fully functional, and regular mock drills should be done to check them.
PSA, short for pressure swing adsorption, is the process by which ambient air passes through an internal filtration system to separate nitrogen from the air, concentrating the remaining oxygen to a known purity.
India’s government also sent a letter to the states regarding the situation, which said the availability of liquid medical oxygen, or LMO, in health facilities and an uninterrupted supply chain for their refilling should be ensured.
The Health Ministry's Additional Secretary Manohar Agnani said in the letter, "… to face any challenges arising in future, the operationalisation and maintenance of this medical infrastructure is of utmost importance."
Adequate inventory of oxygen cylinders along with backup stocks and a robust refilling system should be maintained, the letter added.
India has so far stepped up genome sequencing of Covid cases given the sudden spurt in cases in China and elsewhere.
Cases are soaring across China, with crematoriums and hospitals struggling to cope in the wake of the government's sudden decision to lift years of lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing.
The United States has warned the outbreak is now of concern to the rest of the world, given the potential for further virus mutations and the size of China.
India, which suffered badly at the height of the pandemic, has not so far reported any significant rise in cases.
