Centre revises guidelines for international arrivals amid Omicron scare
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New Delhi: Amid the rising concern for new coronavirus variant Omicron, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday revised the guidelines for the international arrivals.
The new guidelines will be effective from December 1. The revised guidelines will supersede earlier ones issued on and after 11 November.
The Health Ministry, in a statement, said: "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 VOC by the WHO."
The Centre has mandated that international arrivals will have to submit their 14 days travel history and upload valif negative Covid (RT-PCR) test results on Air Suvidha portal before the journey.
The statement added that the RT-PCR test report should not be more than 72 hours old.
At the time of boarding the flight, only asymptomatic travellers will be allowed to board after thermal screening and all passengers shall be advised to download Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices.
According to the new guidelines, the passengers travelling from countries that are categorised as 'at-risk' will have to undergo testing on arrival.
If the passengers test positive, their samples will be sent for genomic sequencing, and they will be sent to institutional quarantine.
If they test negative, they will be asked to remain in home quarantine for seven days following which they will take a test on the 8th day and continue monitoring their health for the next 7 days.
The government has listed -- South Africa, China, the United Kingdom, European countries, Bangladesh, Brazil, Botswana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, Singapore and Israel on 'At Risk' segment.
The tests for passengers from 'at-risk' nations will be self-paid while the cost of the random tests will be borne by the Civil Aviation Ministry.
"Travellers from countries excluding the 'at risk' countries will be allowed to leave the airport and shall self-monitor their health for 14 days post arrival," said the statement.