INDIA will make on-arrival Covid-19 testing mandatory for flyers from more than a dozen countries, including South Africa and Britain where the Omicron variant has been detected, the health ministry said.
The decision will be effective from Wednesday (1) and comes after a man who recently returned from South Africa tested positive for Covid-19, though it is not yet clear which strain of the coronavirus he contracted.
Further investigations are ongoing, an official said.
"The patient is currently under observation and is displaying mild symptoms," said Pradeep Awate, a senior health official in Maharashtra state where the man is isolating.
"Still, we are monitoring him out of abundant caution."
The federal health ministry said all arrivals from Europe, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel will be tested at the airport using the RT-PCR method.
Additionally, five per cent of all travellers from other countries will be randomly tested, the ministry added.
Prime minister Narendra Modi has already asked officials to review a decision to resume all scheduled international flights from Dec. 15. Currently only special flights as per bilateral or other agreements are flying.
India reported 6,990 new coronavirus cases and 190 related fatalities on Tuesday (30), pushing the overall case tally to 34,587,822 and the death count to 468,980, according to the health ministry data.
Clifford had previously denied killing Carol Hunt, 61, the wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters, Louise Hunt, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads guilty to crossbow murders of BBC presenter’s family
A 26-YEAR-OLD man on Wednesday pleaded guilty to murdering two daughters of a BBC sports commentator and stabbing to death their mother in a crossbow attack.
Kyle Clifford had previously denied killing Carol Hunt, 61, the wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters, Louise Hunt, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28.
However, appearing via video link at Cambridge Crown Court in eastern England, Clifford changed his pleas.
The court heard that Clifford tied up Louise Hunt, his former partner, binding her arms and ankles with duct tape before shooting her in the chest with a crossbow at the family home last July.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, one count of false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons. However, Clifford denied raping Louise.
The murders took place at the family home in the commuter town of Bushey, near Watford, northwest of London.
Clifford was arrested in July following a manhunt after the bodies of the three women were discovered.
(With inputs from AFP)