Mansukh Mandaviya to hold virtual meeting with state health ministers today over COVID crisis

Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a virtual meeting with State health ministers on the Covid-19 situation and preparedness at 3 pm today, according to sources. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review the status and preparedness of public health response to COVID-19 and emphasised the need for strengthened surveillance with a focus on genome sequencing and increased testing. This high-level review meeting comes against the backdrop of a spike in COVID-19 cases in some countries, according to the Prime Minister's Office.

Meanwhile, all fliers arriving in India should preferably be fully vaccinated as per the approved primary schedule of vaccination against Covid-19 in their country, the health ministry said in fresh guidelines amid renewed fears over the virus. An alarming surge in Covid-19 cases in China has triggered fresh concerns over the virus. Any passenger with symptoms of Covid-19 during travel must be isolated as per standard protocol, according to the new rules. The said passenger should wear a mask, be isolated and segregated from other passengers in flight and shifted to an isolation facility subsequently for follow-up treatment, it added.