Union Health Minister on January 1 visited the Indira Gandhi International Airport to review arrangements for screening and testing of international passengers in view of the recent spike in cases of COVID-19 in some countries.

He reviewed the RT-PCR testing mechanism and the Air Suvidha portal which has been started from January 1. He also visited the Airport Health Organisation office (APHO) and interacted with the officials present there.

"Passengers arriving from 6 high-risk countries are now mandatorily required to upload their negative RT-PCR test reports in the Air Suvidha portal within 72 hours of undertaking their journey to India while travellers from other countries are being randomly tested at the airports upon their arrival in India," Health Minister said on the occasion.

He said that this is being done to ensure that genome sequencing of any positive case is promptly done to understand the strength and behaviour of any new variants.

Underlining the challenge posed by the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in some countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and the US, the Health Minister emphasised the importance of being prepared and remaining alert against new and emerging strains of COVID-19.

He directed officials to be fully geared up and urged people to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated against COVID. He also stated that the government is taking all necessary measures to ensure effective preparation and management of the emerging COVID-19 scenario.