Pakistan tightens COVID screening at airports amid fear of new ‘BF.7’ variant
Border Health Services (BHS) on Thursday directed airport authorities to tighten COVID-19 screening for all international travellers arriving in Pakistan, following a worldwide resurgence in cases of a new variant “BF.7”, especially in China and India.
In a statement, an official of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination said that the spread of the mutated Covid variant BF.7 was causing concerns, and additional measures had been taken to curb its spread.
The advisory also directed the Airport Health Services to screen, using Antigen Rapid Test, every unwell traveller at the airports.
Earlier, health authorities said Pakistan is ‘fully prepared’ to deal with any sub-variant of the deadly coronavirus, including BF.7 if it reaches the country.
The genome sequencing of the corona virus is being done in the laboratories of all four provinces and the federal capital.
The latest data from the National Institute of Health (NIH) reveals that at least 12 new cases were reported during the last 24 hours in Pakistan. The case positivity ratio remained below 1 percent, and no death was reported from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours.
