Govt Of India Imposes New Rules For International Travel As Covid-19 Cases Increase Globally

Amid the spread of mutant variants of coronavirus in many countries, a set of revised guidelines for international arrivals has been issued by the Union health ministry. For all the travelers who are travelling from the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East, fresh guidelines are given. Till further orders, these new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will come into effect from 23.59 hours on February 22.

The Ministry in its tweet asked all the travelers to take all the necessary precautions in order to stave off the the risk of importation of mutant strains of SARS-CoV-2.

Guidelines for international arrivals effective 22 February

1. A self-declaration (SDF) for Covid on the online Air Suvidha portal  must be submitted by all international travelers before the scheduled travel
2. Upload a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report on the online portal www.newdelhiairport.in.
3. The test must be performed 72 hours prior to the journey, with each passenger also submitting a declaration of the authenticity of the report
4. Only asymptomatic travelers will be allowed to board after the thermal screening at the time of boarding.
5. Though currently there is no facility for online registration for travelers arriving through seaports/land ports, same protocol shall be applied to them as well, as per the civil aviation ministry guidelines.
6. Airlines must identify and segregate the international travelers arriving from/transiting through the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa (during the past 14 days) in flight.
7. Self-paid confirmatory molecular tests on arrival at the Indian airports has be asked to be done by all the travelers arriving from/transiting through flights originating in the United Kingdom, Europe or the Middle East.
8. After giving samples at the designated area and exit the airport, the travelers from Europe and the Middle East shall be advised to self-monitor their health for 14 days if the report is negative. In case it is positive, they shall undergo treatment as per standard health protocol.

Currently, it is under the air bubble agreements with various countries that overseas flights to and from India are currently operated. Domestic flights resumed in India from May 25 after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.