Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 24
The government has made RTPCR, the covid-19 test, mandatory for all arrivals from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand following the increase in cases in these countries.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya made the statement as India began random testing of 2 percent of all international arrivals from 10 am on Saturday.
RTPCR has higher accuracy than rapid antigen tests, with the government mandate in states also guaranteeing 70% of RTPCR and the rest antigen-based tests for accuracy.
India’s challenge is to track any potential new variants.
So far, the Chinese surge has been driven by the Omicron variant and its lineages, some of which are highly transmissible. However, they are less serious than Delta.