Revised Guidelines For International Passengers Arriving In India; Know Details

Picture courtesy Business World

New Delhi: The Union government on Thursday issued revised guidelines for international passengers travelling to India.

Children below the age of five, travelling to India, will henceforth be exempted from pre-departure and post-arrival COVID-19 testing. However, if they are found to have coronavirus symptoms on arrival or during their home quarantine period, they will have to undergo testing and be treated according to laid-down protocol, PTI reported.

The Union ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated that existing guidelines were tweaked keeping in mind ramped-up COVID vaccination across the world and changing nature of the pandemic.

The new guidelines will be valid from November 12 till further orders, the ministry said.

Following are some of the key protocols:

* Fully-vaccinated travellers coming from a country with which India has reciprocal arrangements for mutual acceptance of WHO-approved COVID will be allowed to leave the airport and need not undergo home quarantine. They will self-monitor their health for 14 days, post arrival.

* Travellers who are partially inoculated or not vaccinated at all will have to submit a sample for post-arrival COVID-19 test at the point of arrival after which they will be allowed to leave the airport. Thereafter, they will have to home quarantine for seven days, and do another test on the eighth day of arrival in India; if that’s negative, continue self-monitoring of health for next seven days.

* If travellers under home quarantine or self-health monitoring develop signs and symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 or test positive on re-testing, they will immediately self-isolate and report to the nearest health facility or call national helpline number 1075 or state helpline number.

* Passengers found to be symptomatic during screening will be immediately isolated and taken to a medical facility. If tested positive, their contacts will be identified and managed according to laid-down protocol.