The Sindh government on Thursday recommended to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and National Institute of Health (NIH) to test travelers coming from China for Covid-19 at airports across the country.
Earlier today, Reuters had reported that the United States will impose mandatory Covid-19 tests on travelers from China, US health officials said on Wednesday, joining India, Italy, Japan and Taiwan in taking new measures after Beijing’s decision to lift stringent zero-Covid policies.
The lack of knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 virus variants and worries that a spike in Covid cases in China would lead to the emergence of new forms of the virus are cited as the reasons for the new policy.
In a letter to the concerned authorities, the Sindh government alerted authorities of the “resurgence of Coronavirus related infection-related morbidities and mortalities in global proximities” and requested them to take preventive measures to control the spread of the virus.
Among the recommendation the provincial government suggested the NCOC impose mandatory testing for “all the inbound passengers on flights from China” at airports. “In case of positive results, the person shall be quarantined until they become negative for contagion,” the letter stated, adding that serology tests of confirmed positive cases should be carried out.
“A huge number of false negative cases of new Covid-19 variant are also being reported so any person showing symptoms similar to the virus should be isolated and tested on PCR for confirmation,” it furthered.
In addition, the Sindh government suggested the establishment of isolation centers, mandatory administration of booster shots as well as discouragement of large public gatherings. It also recommended that for all domestic and international travel, vaccination against Covid-19 be declared mandatory.
China’s official death toll of 5,246 since the pandemic began compares with more than 1 million deaths in the United States. Chinese-ruled Hong Kong has reported more than 11,000 deaths.
