France, Dec. 30 -- Healthcare professionals across India have been takingpart inanti-Covid drills, andtravel rules for several Asian countries including China have been toughened in the wake of Beijing's decision to end the policy of widespread quarantine.

Indian hospitals stocked up on oxygen, beds and medicines as the world logged 11 million new Covid infections last week - eight percent more than the number of cases reported oneweek earlier.

Delhi Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviyainspected state facilities which crumpled during previous Covid surges in 2021 and 2022, leaving millions dead.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked us to make sure there isn't a Covid surge," he said, adding that visitors from China, Japan, South Korea,...