India’s health minister has advised the public to take precautions against Covid-19, including getting vaccinated and wearing masks, as the country remains on alert for potential new variants that could emerge from the wave of infections sweeping neighboring China.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday told Parliament that India would begin randomly testing 2% of international travelers arriving at the country’s airports, after he asked regional authorities to send positive samples to laboratories monitoring for new Covid strains.
“States have been told to make people aware of (the need to) wear masks, use hand sanitizers, maintain respiratory hygiene and social distancing,” Mandaviya said, as he encouraged Indians to receive vaccines or booster shots.
Speaking Wednesday at a meeting to review the Covid situation in the country amid rising cases in several Asian nations, Mandaviya said: “Covid is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be on the alert, and strengthen surveillance.”
India, a country of 1.3 billion, relaxed its Covid restrictions earlier this year after a drop in infections, and people have mostly stopped wearing masks outside.
The warnings from the Indian minister come as China braces for infections to spread from its biggest cities to its vast rural areas following its hurried and under-prepared exit from the zero-Covid strategy earlier this month.