The new variant called C.1.2 has been detected in South Africa, becoming a source of major concern for authorities across the globe.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has made the RT-PCR test mandatory for international passengers arriving at Mumbai airport starting September 3.
BMC has made RT-PCR tests a must for passengers from UK, Europe, Middle East, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. The C.1.2 has not been found in India so far, news agency ANI has quoted government sources as saying.
The provision of institutional quarantine for overseas travellers travelling by plane has been eliminated under the new guidelines. For overseas travellers, however, some new requirements have been implemented.
RT-PCR Test Mandatory For Passengers From These Locations
RT-PCR test mandatory for international passengers arriving at Mumbai Airport from the following location:
- UK, Europe
- Middle East
- South Africa
- Brazil
- Bangladesh
- Botswana
- China
- Mauritius
- New Zealand
- Zimbabwe
Mandatory Guidelines For International Passengers
- There will be no exception for fully vaccinated people and also passengers age above 65 years from September 3.
- 14 days of home quarantine for all the passengers is mandatory.
- All other passengers (except those from the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, South Africa,Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, and Zimbabwe)who need to leave Mumbai Airport or catch a connecting flight must produce a negative RT-PCR test report within 72 hours of their departure.
New Variant of Covid-19
The new variety C.1.2 has been discovered in South Africa, causing great alarm among authorities around the world. It has been found in at least six more countries.
Richard Lessells, an infectious disease specialist and one of the authors of the research on C.1.2, was quoted by Reuters as saying that C.1.2 “may have more immune evasion properties than Delta”, based on its pattern of mutations and that the findings had been flagged to the World Health Organisation.
“The WHO has regularly been discussing with South African researchers their work on sequencing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful for researchers in South Africa who first presented their findings on variant C.1.2 to the WHO Virus Evolution Working Group in July ’21.”
-Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, technical head of the World Health Organization (WHO)
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