‘Next 40 days crucial as India may see Covid surge in mid-January’

The next 40 days will be crucial as India may see a surge of COVID cases in mid of January, said Union Health Ministry sources on Wednesday. The sources said the assessment had been made after analysing the previous trends of the COVID surge the country experienced.As there have been reports of a surge in COVID cases in some countries, the operational readiness of health facilities is being reviewed in all States and Union Territories in case of another wave. Notably, two passengers coming from Dubai tested positive for the COVID infection at Chennai airport on Wednesday.”Two passengers who arrived from Dubai tested positive at the Chennai airport today. Both of them hailed from the Alangudi district of Tamil Nadu’s Pudukkottai. Their test samples have been sent to State Public Health Laboratory,” said Tamil Nadu Health Department said.At least 39 international travellers have tested positive for COVID infection between December 24-26 as the random testing of international passengers arriving at the airports is being done “The total number of international flights screened in the last three days ie December 24, December 25 and December 26 is 498.The number of samples collected for COVID-19 testing is 1,780. The cumulative number of samples collected is 3,994. The cumulative number of samples testing positive is 39 and the cumulative number of samples sent for whole genome sequencing is 39,” sources told ANI on Tuesday.In light of the surge in COVID in some countries, hospitals across India conducted a Mock drill for COVID. The purpose of the mock drill was to evaluate COVID preparedness in terms of resources, protocol and personnel.