Two passengers test positive for Covid in Kolkata

Covid surge: Two passengers - a man and a woman - have tested positive for Covid in Kolkata, India Today reported on Monday. They tested positive upon arrival in Kolkata on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. The man came in from Dubai while the woman came from Kuala Lumpur. 

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The woman, a British passport holder, reached Kolkata on an Air Asia flight. She has been admitted to the Belegata ID hospital for isolation, the sources told India Today TV. Her 33 co-passengers, who all travelled from Kuala Lumpur, have been advised to maintain Covid protocol. 

Earlier today, eight foreigners tested positive for Covid in Delhi and Bihar's Gaya. Of these, 7 were from Myanmar and one from Bangkok.

Today, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the random Covid testing has started at various airports across the country in the wake of rising cases globally. 

India stepped up its preparedness after an alarming rise in Covid cases in the US, China, Japan, Brazil and South Korea. 

The Health Ministry has made the RT-PCR test mandatory for some travellers coming from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand. 

Last Thursday, the Centre issued guidelines for international arrivals under which 2 per cent of the total passengers on the flight will undergo random testing at the airport.

On Sunday, a man from Agra, who recently returned from China, tested positive for Covid.

A sharp rise in Covid cases in China has sparked fears among other nations about the new variant, which might be highly infectious. Reports suggest that BF.7, a sublineage of Omicron, is driving the surge in China. 

In India, four cases of this variant were detected two months ago and all of them recovered without causing any spread.