MUMBAI: A day after the Centre suspended all flights from and to the UK, and
Maharashtra reimposed quarantine norms in the wake of the
new Covid-19 strain, the state government has issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for international flyers.
While 14-day paid institutional quarantine is mandatory for all those arriving from the UK, Europe and the Middle East—South Africa was added to the list on Tuesday—the guidelines state that any passenger who develops symptoms or tests positive during the quarantine will be admitted to identified hospitals and shall be treated as having been infected with the new virus strain.
In Mumbai, the quarantine norm has been tweaked. BMC has opted for a 7+7 approach, said Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner (health). “Passengers from the identified regions will have to mandatorily undergo institutional quarantine for seven days, undergo an RT-PCR test and if they test positive, then they will be sent to an isolation facility and treatment. If, however, the person tests negative, then the person can go home, but must quarantine for seven days,” he said.
Across the rest of the state, passengers will not be allowed outside the designated quarantine facility before 14 days, in any condition, mentioned the state guidelines. The municipal commissioner of the city where the airport is located shall appoint a nodal officer to oversee implementation of these SOPs.
Transit passengers who land in Mumbai for onward flights shall be allowed to proceed only if they have a negative test report from an RT-PCR test conducted within 72 hours of boarding the flight, another circular issued by the BMC said.
Pregnant and bereaved flyers to be exempt nowIf a passenger hasn’t undergone an RT-PCR test before departure then the passenger can take the test at the airport and he/she will be allowed to proceed once the report shows negative for coronavirus. “The passengers allowed to transit to a final destination out of Maharashtra shall have her hand stamped as ‘Transit Passenger from Europe/Middle East’ said the order.
Women in an advanced state of pregnancy and those with a death in the immediate family will be exempt from hotel quarantine, said an order issued by P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner, BMC.
The state’s SOPs also mention that at the designated hotel (quarantine centre), all the passengers should be monitored daily to check if they develop any symptoms.
All airports and seaports in the state shall be alerted to the possible threat of the spread of the new strain.
Meanwhile, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, in a meeting with all municipal commissioners and district collectors, asked them to coordinate with Delhi and other states to get information about international passengers coming to Maharashtra after travelling within the country. Officials should pay more attention to such passengers coming from other states, he said.