New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Chief Minister, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday to suspend flights from countries affected by the new Covid variant. "I ask the Prime Minister to suspend flights from the countries affected by the new variant. Our country has recovered from Corona with considerable difficulty. We should do everything we can to keep this new variety out of India "In a tweet, Kejriwal stated.

Kejriwal had previously urged government officials to deliver a presentation to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and advise essential procedures in light of the threat posed by a new COVID strain from African countries.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a meeting with key government officials today to discuss the issue around COVID-19 and immunisation. The meeting would be attended by Cabinet Secretary Gauba, PM Modi's Principal Secretary PK Mishra, NITI Aayog member (health) Dr VK Paul, and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.

Following the detection of the novel COVID variant 'Omicron' in South Africa, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has added Hong Kong and Israel to the list of countries from which travellers will need to follow additional steps upon arrival in India, including post-arrival testing. South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Israel, Hong Kong, and countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom, are among the countries from which travellers will need to take extra precautions upon arrival in India.

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