Covid BF.7: New Rules Impose, Testing Restarts at Airports in India

India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has updated the guidelines for travellers coming into the country. While the ministry had mandated random testing of all flyers coming in, new rules will require all passengers to be thermally screened, and some to be tested on arrival. 

COVID BF.7: Latest guidelines for travellers coming to India

• RT-PCR tests will now be mandatory for all international passengers arriving from China, South Korea, Japan and Thailand. Those found symptomatic or positive of COVID-19 will be quarantined.
• Air Suvidha is back. Filling out the form to declare health status is now mandatory for flyers coming in from these countries.
• All passengers coming into India now have to undergo a mandatory thermal screening. 
• Anyone found symptomatic will be isolated and taken to a designated medical facility.
• Further, 2% of all passengers on each incoming international flight will be subjected to a COVID-19 test on arrival. These passengers will be selected at random. Passengers need not wait for the test results to arrive—they will be allowed to leave after giving the sample. 

No other country has announced any significant measures for travellers yet, though Singapore has beefed up protection for staff who are interacting with arrivals. All personnel, including those working at taxi, stands at the airport, will wear enhanced personal protective equipment, including N95 masks and face shields. Thailand's health officials have confirmed that New Year celebrations will go on as planned and that the situation is under control.

COVID in China: What we know so far

China is grappling with a possible COVID-19 comeback. The spike has been noted to take effect since China eased its zero-COVID restrictions last month. 

• The dominant virus strain in China is a sub-variant of Omicron called BF.7 (short for BA.5.2.1.7). The strain is highly transmissible, more infectious than any other variant, and has been circulating for a year now. 
• However, experts point out that there’s no concrete data to suggest that it’s the cause behind the rapid spread of the virus. In fact, there’s an evident spike in countries such as Japan, South Korea, USA and Brazil as well. 
• While the number has lowered considerably in recent days, schooling is moving back online, hospitals are falling short on medication and predictions are suggesting deaths in the millions in the coming months.
• On 19 December, China reported 2,700 cases and five deaths. This is significantly lower than the 40,000 cases that were reported in November. Worth noting that early in December, China eased the rules for RT-PCR tests. Unlike earlier, citizens no longer need an RT-PCR test to enter any public place. Death of patients with pre-existing illnesses is not being recorded as COVID-related death either. 

These new measures in India come amid a spike in COVID cases in China, Brazil, Japan, US and Korea. As of Wednesday evening, 4 cases of the Omicron subvariant BF.7 have been detected in India. Of these, two cases have been reported from Gujarat, and one in Odisha. The most recent case is in Vadodara, where a person who arrived from the US tested positive for the BF.7 variant of coronavirus. Officials stress that there is no need for panic and that India’s COVID numbers are currently at their lowest since the pandemic began, and have been in a steady decline for the past 5 months. Govt of India has advised people to mask up in public places, although this is not mandatory yet._Agencies