New COVID guidelines for international passengers travelling to India, check details here

A new set of rules for all international arrivals in India has come into effect on and from today, 11 January. The revised guidelines for international travellers have been set by the Centre to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Foreign travellers will now have to undergo a mandatory quarantine for seven days, as per new rules. The seven-day home quarantine will end after an RT-PCR test that will be conducted on the eighth day. All international travellers who need to undertake testing on arrival have been directed to pre-book a self-paid COVID-19 test online on Air Suvidha portal. The new set of rules, which has come into force from today, will remain effective till the government’s further orders. Below are a few details of the government order for international passengers:

• On arrival, international passengers coming to India will undergo a thermal screening by health officials at the airport. Meanwhile, the self-declaration form that has been filled online should be shown to the airport health supervisor.
• After all travellers are tested, they will have to undergo home quarantine for seven days and also undertake a RT-PCR test on the eighth day. If anyone tests negative, they will further have to self-monitor their health for the following seven days.
• Passengers are requested to submit a self-declaration form on Air Suvidha portal and also upload a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR report. This report should be conducted within 72 hours, before taking the journey.
• On the revised guidelines, the centre has updated its new list of ‘countries of concern’. The countries included are: South Africa, countries in Europe including the United Kingdom, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Hong Kong, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Zambia, Congo and Ethiopia.
• So, passengers arriving from these countries will mandatorily undergo post-arrival testing. They will also be required to wait for their test results before leaving or taking a connecting flight.
• Those who will be found to be symptomatic during screening will immediately be isolated. They will be taken to a medical facility as per health protocol.
• Those travellers arriving through seaports or land ports will also have to undergo the same procedure. However, children under the age of five have been exempted from both pre-and post-arrival testing.

    Keywords: Covid, Covid testing, RT-PCR, RT-PCR test, COVID-19, quarantine period, international flyers, coronavirus, Omicron