BF.7 Scare: Avoid travelling to THESE countries this New Year as Covid surges

New Delhi: Amid a surge in Covid cases globally, travellers need to avoid at least eight countries while planning for a New Year trip. Several countries are expected to impose travel restrictions in the New Year to prevent infections from surging among their population. China tops the list for avoiding foreign travel as the country is reporting a record number of infections. Chinese officials estimate about 250 million people (18 per cent of the population) were infected with Covid-19 in the first 20 days of December, as Beijing abruptly dismantled restrictions that had contained the disease for almost three years.

Various countries, including India, have started screening travellers coming from China. Japan is currently reporting more than 2 lakh new Covid cases every day, and should not be on your travel list.

Japan`s health authorities reported that 371 deaths were caused by Covid virus in the country in a single day, the highest in a day since the pandemic began in 2020. Japan is coping with the eighth wave of the pandemic.

The US is also registering a sudden surge in Covid as over 15 lakh cases were reported in the country in the past 28 days. The total number of Covid cases passed the 100 million mark on December 21.

Amid rising influenza and RSV cases in America, the so-called "tripledemic", could further strain the overburdened US health system.

South Korea reported more than 68,000 cases in a single day on December 23. The country`s new Covid-19 cases fell below 30,000 on Monday due to fewer tests during the Christmas weekend. The country confirmed 25,545 new coronavirus infections, including 67 from overseas, bringing the total to 28,684,600, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Brazil is also reporting a high number of Covid cases as well, while Germany has been registering more than 40,000 cases daily in the past few days, as per media reports.

France has also reported more than 10 lakh cases in the past 28 days, and the cases are also going up.

In Singapore, China CDC reported that 130 Omicron sub-lineages have been found in the past three months. These include several from the BQ.1 and XBB strains which have been circulating in the US, Britain and Singapore, among other countries.

India recorded a single-day rise of 157 new COVID-19 cases, while the count of active cases of the disease has marginally decreased to 3,421, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. 

The tally of Covid cases in the country has now gone up to 4.46 crore (4,46,77,459). The death toll due to the disease stands at 5,30,696 with one fatality being reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am showed. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.32 per cent, while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.18 per cent, the health ministry said. It said 49,464 tests for the detection of COVID-19 were conducted in the last 24 hours. Active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the ministry.