India revises guidelines for international arrivals; 7-day home quarantine mandatory

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Jan. 7 (EMN): Amid surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, the government of India has made seven-day home quarantine mandatory for all international arrivals and an RT-PCR test to be taken on the 8th day.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued the revised guidelines for international travellers in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases across the globe and detection of the Omicron variant.

The revised guidelines will come into effect from January 11 (00.01 Hrs. IST), read the order.

Revised guidelines

• All travellers (including those 2% who were selected for random testing on arrival and were found negative) will undergo home quarantine for seven days and shall undertake RT-PCR test on the 8th day of arrival in India.
• Travelers should upload results of RT-PCR test for Covid-19 done on 8th day on Air Suvidha portal (to be monitored by the respective states/UTs).
• All travellers who need to undertake testing on arrival, should preferably pre-book the test online on Air Suvidha Portal, to facilitate timely testing and avoid inconvenience.

The detailed revised guidelines can be accessed on the Health Ministry’s website.

It may be mentioned that according to the government’s guidelines issued November 30, 2021, international travellers coming from countries specified as at risk had to submit Covid testing result post-arrival and wait for their test results at the airport before leaving or taking a connecting flight.

If tested negative, they were required to undergo home quarantine for seven days and take a re-test on the eighth day before further self-monitoring for another seven days if test result comes out negative.

The Union Health Ministry also clarified media reports that the WHO had accorded emergency use listing (EUL) to Covaxin vaccine for 15-18 yrs age group, describing it as ‘ill-informed and misleading’.

It stated that its guidelines issued on December 27 last year didn’t mention EUL by WHO, adding that National Regulator CDSCO had accorded the use of the vaccine for teens.