India’s Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, announced on Thursday, December 22, 2022 that India has begun randomly testing international passengers arriving at its airports for COVID-19, citing an increase in cases in neighboring China.

The Health Minister declared the new rule in Parliament, where he also entreated state governments to increase surveillance for any new coronavirus variants and send samples of all positive cases to genome sequencing laboratories.

Mandaviya also asked the public to wear masks and maintain social distancing, even though there are no official mandates for either.

India relaxed its mask-wearing rules earlier this year after coronavirus cases began to sharply plummet. It has reported the most COVID-19 cases in the world since the pandemic began, but confirmed infections have fallen sharply in the past few months.

According to health ministry data, India currently has about 3,400 active coronavirus cases.

Cases have surged in neighboring China since it relaxed its harsh restrictions earlier this month following rare public protests.

Mandaviya disclosed that the Indian government has no plans yet to halt flights from countries where new cases have been reported.

The increase in cases in China has also prompted Indian health experts to issue advisories for the public to wear face masks and receive vaccine booster doses.

Indian Medical Association Encourages People To Adhere To COVID Protocols

Meanwhile, India’s top doctors’ body, the Indian Medical Association, also appealed to people today, December 22, 2022, to wear masks in all public places and get vaccine boosters.

It urged people to avoid public gatherings such as weddings, political and social meetings, and international travel.

Additionally, the association appealed to the people to consult doctors in case of any symptoms like fever, sore throat, cough, loose motions and urged them to get COVID vaccination, including precautionary dose, at the earliest.

“As of now, the situation is not alarming and therefore there is no need to panic. Prevention is better than cure,” it revealed in a statement.

The Indian Medical Association implored the government to upscale the preparedness “for any such situation as seen in 2021” by issuing necessary instructions to the concerned Ministries and Departments to make available the emergency medicines, oxygen supply, and ambulance services.

India, a country of nearly 1.4 billion people, has administered more than 2.2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses, but only 27% of the population has received a third booster dose.