Compulsory Isolation For International Passengers Not Needed; Govt Makes This Big Change For Air Passengers

The world continues to battle with the pandemic. And so does India. In recent days we have started experiencing a surge of cases throughout the country. Various authorities have enforced many restrictions on the movement of citizens under their own jurisdiction. Sometimes these orders tend to become harsh and difficult to implement. And hence need to be revised as well. Such is the case of a recent order by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Now, isolation facility not mandatory for int’l travelers arriving from at-risk countries

According to a slight modification of its previous order, the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) has done away with the provision of ‘management at isolation facility for passengers coming from countries designated as ‘at-risk’ and testing positive for Covid-19 after arrival at an airport in India.

“If tested positive, their samples should be further sent for genomic testing at INSACOG laboratory network. They shall be treated/isolated as per laid down standard protocol,” the health ministry order said. The earlier circular which was issued on January 7, said that such passengers ‘shall be managed at isolation facility and treated as per standard laid down protocol including contact tracing.’

The new guidelines will come into effect at 00:01 hours on 22^nd Jan. The new norms, too, will have to be followed until further orders.

“In view of the changed scenario and new guidelines issued by MoHFW; including on Home Isolation, the existing guidelines necessitated a revision,” the ministry added further.

India has 19 countries on its ‘at –risk’ list

Currently, India has 19 countries on its ‘at-risk’ list. Notably, in this list the European nations, including the United Kingdom, have been clubbed into one.

It should be noted that Regular international flight operations to India remain suspended since being stopped in March 2020 when the first national lockdown was announced. These were supposed to resume on December 15 last year.

However, the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus forced the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to reverse its decision to resume international flights.

The regular flights will not resume till February 28.