New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi convenes a meeting with top government officials to discuss the COVID-19 situation and vaccination.
On Friday, India recorded 10,549 new cases of COVID-19. This brings the total number of active cases to 1,10,133. The active caseload presently amounts for less than 1% of all cases, with 0.32 % being the lowest since March 2020, ANI reported.
Till now, 120.27 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed as part of the Nationwide Vaccination Drive.
New Covid-19 Variant
Amid growing concern over a new COVID-19 variation known as 'Omicron,' which was discovered in South Africa, India added numerous nations to the list of countries from which visitors would need to take additional precautions upon arriving in India, including post-arrival testing for infection.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has added Hong Kong and Israel to the list of countries from which visitors must take additional precautions upon arriving in India, including post-arrival testing, in light of the discovery of the novel COVID strain 'Omicron' in South Africa.
In view of the Covid-19 scenario across the world, particularly the advent of a new coronavirus variant, the decision of barring 14 countries were reportedly made in collaboration with the Union Health Ministry.
The United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and Singapore are among the countries that will not immediately feature regular commercial international flights.
In the wake of the discovery of a novel Coronavirus type in South Africa, the World Health Organization has advised governments to use a "risk-based" approach when adopting travel controls.
(With inputs from ANI)