'Air Suvidha' No Longer Mandatory For Travelers From China And 5 Other Countries, Random Testing Continues

Health Ministry cited a sustained decline in COVID-19 cases in these countries and a global decline of 89% in newly confirmed cases in the past 28 days.

Travellers wearing face masks come out of terminal 2 amid rising cases of COVID-19 in some countries, at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. ( Image Source :PTI )

After a recent surge reported in Covid cases in China and other countries, India issued several precautionary guidelines including 'Air Suvidha', a self-declaration form, for international travellers from select countries. Noting a decline in cases, India has now relaxed travel norms for passengers from China and five other countries.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday updated the "Guidelines for International Arrivals" by dropping the existing requirements of pre-departure COVID-19 testing and self-health declaration for travellers coming from or via China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, and Japan.

The new arrangement will take effect from February 13 at 11 am.

In a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Health Ministry cited a sustained decline in COVID-19 cases in these countries and a global decline of 89% in newly confirmed cases in the past 28 days.

"India has continued to witness a declining trajectory, with less than 100 new cases/day are being reported. In view of the above, this Ministry is updating its 'Guidelines for International Arrivals', and dropping the existing requirements of pre-departure Covid-19 testing and uploading of Self-Health Declaration on the Ministry of Civil Aviation's 'Air Suvidha' portal applicable for international travellers coming from/via China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan," Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in the letter.

Despite the relaxed norms, the random testing of 2% of travellers coming to India will continue to monitor infections from mutated variants of SARS-CoV-2. 

Covid Cases Update In India

As of the latest data from the health ministry, a total of 220.62 crore vaccine doses have been administered in India as part of the nationwide vaccination drive, including 95.19 crore second doses and 22.85 crore precautionary doses. Over the last 24 hours, 79,529 doses were administered.

India's active caseload currently stands at 1,797, accounting for just 0.01% of all cases. The recovery rate remains at a high of 98.81%, with 96 new recoveries reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,41,51,315.

In the last 24 hours, 114 new cases have been reported, with a daily positivity rate of 0.08% and a weekly positivity rate of 0.08%.

So far, 91.68 crore tests have been conducted in India, with 1,38,820 tests carried out in the last 24 hours.