New Delhi: Amid rising Covid-19 cases in India driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, the Centre on Friday said all international passengers arriving in the country would have to undergo mandatory seven-day home quarantine.
The revised guidelines for international arrivals in India will be valid with effect from January 11, 2022.
"All travellers (including those 2% who are selected for random testing on arrival and found negative) will undergo home quarantine for seven days and shall undertake RT-PCR test on the 8th day of arrival in India," the guidelines said.
"They should upload results of the RT-PCR test done on the eighth day on the Air Suvidha portal, which will be monitored by the respective state governments," it further said.
If the Covid test results come negative, passengers have been advised to self-monitor their health for the next seven days. However, if found positive, their samples will be further sent for genomic testing at the INSACOG laboratory network.
"They shall be managed at isolation facility and treated as per laid down standard protocol," the guidelines said.
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As per the new rules, all passengers will now have to submit a self-declaration form and a negative RT-PCR report on the online Air Suvidha portal before their journey. They also have the provision to pre-book a Covid-19 test, which would be done on arrival.
Thermal screening will be carried out in respect of all the passengers by the health officials present at the airport. "The passengers found to be symptomatic during screening shall be immediately isolated and taken to a medical facility. If tested positive, their contacts shall be identified and managed as per laid down protocol," the guidelines said.
Travellers coming from "at-risk" countries will have to submit samples for Covid-19 testing at the point of arrival. They will be required to wait for their test results at the arrival airport before leaving or taking a connecting flight, the guidelines further said.