Alarm bells ringing

04/12/2021

Amid fear of the new COVID variant, Jammu and Kashmir government has issued fresh guidelines making rigorous screening and Covid-19 RT-PCR test mandatory for foreign travellers, as, centre has decided to review its move to end the 20-month ban on scheduled international flights — imposed with the first lockdown in March 2020 — as alarm bells are ringing across the world over Omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus. Omicron, first detected in South Africa, has caused several nations to impose restrictions on flights from that country and its neighbours, and the World Health Organisation has labelled it a ‘variant of concern’. PM Narendra Modi had on Saturday directed officials to review plans to ease international travel restrictions. The decision to end the ban on international flights had come the week India posted the smallest rise in cases in 18 months, which was attributed to widespread vaccination and the presence of antibodies in a large section of the population. Until now, under the air bubble arrangements, India has been allowing a limited number of flights with around 30 countries.
The government had initially decided to allow full-capacity flights from mid-December onwards to and from countries deemed not at risk from the coronavirus infection, while some restrictions were to be placed on flights with nations in the ‘at risk’ category. One key learning from our coronavirus experience is that life just cannot be brought to a standstill — doing this, we’ve seen, causes economic downturn, job losses, reverse migration of workforce and a sharp rise in poverty. The cruellest part is that despite the lockdowns and restrictions, the insidious virus still managed to infect tens of millions of people, causing a health crisis. The pandemic has endangered lives and livelihoods — we need to strike a balance between health security and financial security. On their part, the citizens must adhere strictly to the Covid-19 protocols and shed vaccination hesitancy. So, while authorities have done well to bolster surveillance at airports, they must also make sure that there is no let-up in the general levels of testing and contact tracing. Covid control authorities in India would, therefore, do well to emulate their counterparts in South Africa — and other parts of the world where Omicron has found its way — with respect to genome tracing.

Share This Story


Comment On This Story

 

Photo Gallery

  
BSE Sensex
NSE Nifty