Gujarat Orders Compulsory Testing Of Travellers From Other Countries

Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in some countries, Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel on Wednesday asked officials to conduct "compulsory" testing of travellers arriving in the state from other countries.

It also emerged at least two cases of BF.7 sub-variant of Omicron, suspected to be driving the infection count in China, were recorded in September and November in Ahmedabad and Vadodara. 

Both the cases, who had foreign travel history, recovered, civic officials said.

During the meeting with senior officials of the Health Department, Patel directed the administration to remain alert and take all the precautionary steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus, said an official release.

He also reviewed the availability of beds, ventilators, medicines, and oxygen supply in health centres and civil hospitals across the state during the meeting.

Due to the proactive vaccination drive, the number of new cases of COVID-19 emerging in Gujarat at present is in single digits, the minister said.

Mr Patel asked officials to conduct "compulsory" testing of travellers arriving in Gujarat from other countries, the release said.

After the meeting, senior health officials interacted with district-level officers and superintendents of all the civil hospitals through a video link.

Additional Chief Secretary Manoj Aggarwal said the situation in Gujarat is under control and all the stakeholders have been asked to remain stand-to in view of the current situation.

"We are conducting nearly 8,000 tests every day and the number of new infections remains in single digits. At present, there are only 20 active cases in Gujarat and none of them is admitted to hospitals," said the IAS officer after the meeting.

A day earlier, Union Health Ministry urged all states and Union territories to increase genome sequencing of positive samples to keep track of newer variants for a timely response.

Notably, the recent surge in coronavirus infections in China is believed to be driven by the BF.7 sub-variant of Omicron.

According to officials, this variant was detected in Gujarat and people were found infected with this variant in the past too.

While the state government has not revealed how many cases of that variant are still active in Gujarat at present, officials have said at least two cases of BF.7 infection were recorded in September and November in Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

"A person from the Sola area of the city was found infected with BF.7 upon his arrival here from Australia in November. He returned after recovering from infection without getting admitted to the hospital. There are no active BF.7 cases in Ahmedabad at present," a senior official of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation said on Wednesday.

Vadodara Municipal Commissioner, Banchhanidhi Pani said a woman was found infected with the BF.7 variant upon her return to Vadodara from the US in September. "She eventually recovered during her home isolation," Pani said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)