This is an archive article published on November 28, 2021
Omicron: Random testing and other revised rules for foreign travellers, explained
There are 12 ‘at-risk’ countries listed by the Health Ministry. These include the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.
If travellers from ‘at risk’ countries test positive for Covid-19 on arrival, their samples will be sent for genome sequencing. (File photo)
Amid the threat posed by the Omicron variant, which has been classified as a Variant of Concern by WHO, the Health Ministry on Sunday revised the guidelines for international travel. The government has also decided to review the date of resumption of international flights, earlier scheduled for December 15.
What are the revised guidelines?
International travellers from specified countries at risk will have to strictly follow five specific steps:
* First, international travellers have to submit their samples for the post-arrival Covid-19 test at the point of arrival. These travellers will be required to wait for their test results at the arrival airport before leaving or taking a connecting flight.
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* If they test negative, they will have to stay in quarantine for seven days. They have get tested again on the 8th day after arriving in India. If the result is negative, they will have to further self-monitor their health for the next 7 days.
* If such travellers test positive, their samples will be sent for genomic testing at INSACOG laboratory network.
* All Covid-positive international travellers will be kept at a separate isolation facility and treated as per laid down standard protocols, including contact tracing.
*The contacts of such positive cases should be kept under institutional quarantine or at home quarantine monitored strictly by the concerned state government as per laid down protocols.
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Which are the ‘at risk’ countries from where travellers would need to follow additional measures on arrival in India?
There are 12 ‘at-risk’ countries listed by the Health Ministry. These include the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.
What are the rules for travellers from other countries?
They will be allowed to leave the airport and shall self-monitor their health for 14 days after arrival. However, 5% of these flight passengers will have to undergo random testing at the airport on arrival.
And if the travellers test positive or develop symptoms later while they are in home quarantine or self-health monitoring their condition, they will have to immediately self-isolate and report to their nearest health facility.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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