# Not seen the back of it yet : Throwing open doors to international tourists even as Europe is Covid-hit seems adventurous, says BusinessLine’s editorial today, advising caution, to prevent a repeat of what the country saw earlier this year.

Following the retreat of the second wave, India has been doing rather well on the Covid front. The daily case count now is down to just over 10,200, the lowest since February 2021. Daily Covid deaths, at 125, are at March levels. But what is also evident is that Covid protocols such as masking and social distancing have been cast aside.

# Recommended caution : With Diwali festivities getting over, some States have started showing an uptick in new Covid cases. But medical experts find the new infections of less severity that do not require hospitalisation in most cases.

However, with holiday travellers returning to their States and with Christmas and New Year festivities approaching, doctors recommend caution for a few more weeks till December-end.

# International travel : India has resumed issuing tourist visas to foreigners planning to arrive by scheduled flights. Issue of tourist visas for those travelling by chartered flights opened on October 15. Only single-entry visas valid for for a maximum one month are being issued. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, issue of visa to foreigners was suspended last year.

# Riding through hard times: Amid consolidation in the ride-hailing and aggregation market with the recent acquisitions of Meru Cabs by Mahindra Logistics and bus service start-up Shuttl and bike rental start-up Vogo by Chalo, it has been tough on cab and bus drivers to sustain their livelihoods. And with the ever-increasing prices of fuel, only 50-55 per cent of the drivers from the pre-Covid period have resumed work across India, according to the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers.

# IP waiver talks, India digs in : As the WTO prepares to meet between Nov 30 and Dec 3, India digs in on its stand for an IP waiver.

# Delta grandchild : The Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus now accounts for nearly all of the coronavirus infections globally, fuelled by unchecked spread of the novel coronavirus in many parts of the world. One notable Delta "grandchild" is AY.4.2 and is mainly concentrated in the UK and carries two additional spike proteins.

# Level one notice : The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a ‘Level One’ Covid-19 notice for Americans travelling to India, saying the risk of contracting the infection and developing severe symptoms may be lower if one is fully vaccinated.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW