India Reports 8,309 Covid Cases In Last 24 Hrs, Active Cases Lowest In 544 Days Amid Omicron Scare

The active caseload in the country is at 1,03,859 which is the lowest in 544 days, said the ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Covid testing in India

New Delhi: While the Omicron variant detected in South Africa has raised alarms across the world, India has continued to maintain the downward trend of cases, India has  reported 8,309 new cases, 236 deaths and 9,905 recoveries in the last 24 hours,

The active caseload in the country is at 1,03,859 which is the lowest in 544 days, said the ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Along with the central government, state governments are also actively discussing the measures which need to be taken to protect India from the new Omicron variant. However, the variant scare in India has increased as a man who returned from South Africa to Dombivali in Thane district of Maharashtra recently has tested positive for coronavirus, a Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) official said on Sunday.

It is not confirmed whether the patient was carrying the Omicron variant of coronavirus, which was identified as the variant of concern by the WHO, the official said.

The man had travelled from Cape Town to Dombivali on November 24.

"He underwent a COVID-19 test which returned positive," the official added.

The man didn't come in contact with anyone after returning from South Africa, Dr Pratiba Panpatil, Medical Officer, KDMC, told reporters.

Guidelines for international arrivals

 Union Health Ministry on Sunday issued revised guidelines for international arrivals in India mandating submission of last 14 days’ travel details, uploading a negative RT-PCR test report on the Air Suvidha portal before the journey, among other measures.

The guideline issued in view of ‘Variant of Concern’ Omicron, will be effective from December 1.

As per Health Ministry’s guidelines, travellers from ‘countries at risk’ will need to take the COVID test post arrival and wait for results at the airport.

If tested negative they will follow home quarantine for seven days and take a retest on eighth day. If the test returns negative, further self-monitor for the next seven days will have been done.

On the other hand, travellers from countries excluding those ‘countries at risk’ will be allowed to leave airport and shall self-monitor health for 14 days. A subsection (five per cent of total flight passengers) shall undergo post-arrival testing at random at the airport on arrival, as per the guidelines.