India to make negative Covid test mandatory for travellers from these countries: Report

Following the surge, India has begun to maintain a close watch on the pandemic ahead of New Year.

Passengers arriving from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand - the countries that have reported massive surge in Covid cases might require mandatory negative RT-PCR tests from next week, news agency PTI reported.

Passengers undergo thermal screening as random Covid-19 testing starts at various airports across the country in the wake of rising cases of Coronavirus globally. (PTI)

As the Centre has stepped up surveillance and asked the states to be alert in view of the global spike in Covid cases, at least 39 international travellers arriving in India have tested positive during the random tests being carried at airports." 39 international passengers were found positive for Covid-19 out of the 6,000 tested on arrival in the last two days," official sources told PTI.

This comes at a time when Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya is set to visit New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport tomorrow to review the arrangements made to screen foreign travellers.

Health experts have predicted that India will see a Covid surge in January. Cases are projected to rise especially in the next 40 days. The alert has been sounded based on the previous year's readings.

Following the surge, India has begun to maintain a close watch on the pandemic ahead of New Year. The Centre or the states have not imposed any restriction on celebrations, but urged people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. Hospitals across the country conducted a mock drill to ensure readiness to deal with any eventuality related to Covid-19.

Read | Covid drills at hospitals; case count remains low

With only 27 per cent of the eligible adult population having taken the precaution dose, government officials have appealed to those due for it to take it.

(With inputs from agency)