Amid growing fears around the new Covid-19 variant Omicron entering the country, the Union Health Ministry has announced to revise the guidelines for international arrivals in India to be effective from December 1.
According to the revised guidelines, it is mandated to submit 14 days’ travel details and upload a negative RT-PCR test report on the Air Suvidha portal before the journey.
All travelers will henceforth need to submit a self-declaration form before the scheduled travel under the new guidelines, including details of the last 14 days of travel. Travelers will also need to upload a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report 72 hours before undertaking any journey.
“The existing guidelines have been revised in view of reporting of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 (B.1.1.529; named Omicron) which has been now classified as Variant of Concern by the World Health Organization,” the Health Ministry said.
Passengers coming from ‘at-risk’ countries will have to undergo RT-PCR testing on arrival in India now. If tested negative, they’ll follow home quarantine for seven days. Re-test will take place on the 8th day, which is negative, further self-monitoring will happen for the next seven days.
A sub-section (5% of total flight passengers) will undergo post-arrival testing at random at the airport on arrival. The Health Ministry has classified countries in Europe, including the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Israel as ‘at-risk’.
With the growing concerns around the new covid variant, the Union government has said to review the resumption of scheduled international commercial flights.
