New guidelines for international passengers amid Omicron surge, 7-day home quarantine mandatory for all

The Centre on Friday issued a revised guideline for international passengers amid the exponential rise of Omicron cases making 7-day home quarantine mandatory for all those coming from abroad. The new guideline will come into effect from January 11.

The list of ‘at-risk’ countries has also been expanded as the list now includes all European countries including the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, Israel, Congo, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia and Zambia.

On completion of their home quarantine, travellers will undergo an RT-OCR test, the revised guideline said. The new guideline comes a day after 125 passengers flying from Italy to Amritsar on a chartered flight tested positive on their arrival at Amritsar airport.

Here is the complete guideline

1. All travellers should submit complete and factual information in self-declaration form on the online Air Suvidha portal (https://www.newdelhiairport.in/airsuvidha/apho-registration) before the scheduled travel, including last 14 days travel details.

2. Travellers should upload a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report. The test should have been conducted within 72 hrs prior to undertaking the journey.

3. Each passenger shall also submit a declaration with respect to the authenticity of the report and will be liable for criminal prosecution, if found otherwise.

4. They should also give an undertaking on the portal or otherwise to the ministry of civil aviation, through airlines concerned before they are allowed to undertake the journey that they would abide by the decision of the appropriate government authority to undergo home/institutional quarantine/ self-health monitoring, as warranted.

5. All travellers who need to undertake testing on arrival, should preferably pre-book the test online on Air Suvidha Portal, to facilitate timely testing.

6. A sub-section (2% of the total flight passengers) shall undergo post-arrival testing at random at the airport on arrival. These 2% of such travellers in each flight shall be identified by the concerned airlines (preferably from different countries).

7. All travellers (including those 2% who were selected for random testing on arrival and were found negative) will undergo home quarantine for 7 days and shall undertake an RT-PCR test on the 8th day of arrival in India

8. Travelers shall also be required to upload results of repeat RT-PCR test for COVID-19 done on 8th day on the Air Suvidha portal (to be monitored by the respective States/UTs). If negative, they will further self-monitor their health for the next 7 days.

Before boarding

1. Passengers originating or transiting from at-risk countries shall be informed by the airlines that they will undergo post-arrival testing, quarantine if tested negative, stringent isolation protocols if tested positive etc.

2. Dos and Don’ts shall be provided along with tickets to the travellers by the airlines/agencies concerned.

3. Airlines to allow boarding by only those passengers who have filled in all the information in the Self Declaration Form on the Air Suvidha portal and uploaded the negative RT-PCR test report.

4. At the time of boarding the flight, only asymptomatic travellers will be allowed to board after the thermal screening.

5. All passengers shall be advised to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices.

During travel

1. In-flight announcement about Covid-19 including precautionary measures to be followed shall be made at airports and in flights and during transit.

2. During in-flight crew shall ensure that COVID appropriate behaviour is followed at all times.

3. If any passenger reports symptoms of Covid-19 during flight, he/she shall be isolated as per protocol.

4. Proper in-flight announcements should be made by the airlines regarding the testing requirements and people who need to undergo such testing to avoid any congestion at the arrival airports.