New regulations for visitors from six nations entering India go into effect today: ten things you should know

China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand will be subject to the new law beginning on February 13th.

Since today, India has lifted the required Covid-19 test for visitors traveling from/via China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, and Japan, as illnesses caused by the virus have dropped dramatically worldwide.

Here are the story’s top ten points:

1. In a letter to his colleague in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Rajiv Bansal, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan stated that his ministry was modifying its ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’ due to a decrease in Covid-19 instances.

2. The health ministry has stated that the random Covid-19 testing of 2% of all visitors arriving in India will continue.

3. The new law will be implemented in China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand on February 13th.

4. The decision follows a considerable drop in coronavirus infections in these nations during the last several weeks.

“In view of the above, this ministry is updating its ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’, and dropping the existing requirements of pre-departure Covid-19 testing and uploading of the Self-Health Declaration on the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s ‘Air Suvidha’ portal applicable for international travelers coming from/via China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan.” the letter stated.

6. The letter continued, “In order to monitor infections due to mutated variants of SARS-CoV-2 among international travelers to India, the current exercise of random testing of 2% of travelers upon arrival in India, regardless of their country of origin, shall continue.”

7. Furthermore, according to the World Health Organization’s most recent situational update on coronavirus, there has been an 89% decrease in the number of newly confirmed cases in the past 28 days internationally, as compared to the previous 28 days, the Union Health Secretary observed.

8. Recently, Wu Zunyou, a head epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stated that the likelihood of a big new wave of Covid-19 in China in the future months is quite low.

9. Meanwhile, according to Union Health Ministry statistics updated on Sunday, India reported 124 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of current infections to 1,843. According to the figures, the death toll now stands at 5,30,750.

10. According to the health ministry’s website, over 220.62 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had been administered in India as part of the statewide immunization program up to this point.