New guidelines for international arrivals in India, 7-day quarantine must

The Union Health Ministry has revised the existing norms for international passengers arriving in India in wake of the rising COVID-19 cases and threat over Omicron. The revised guidelines will take effect from January 11 and will be apply till further orders, the ministry said in a statement.

The new rules cover protocols to be followed by passengers, airlines and all entry points (airports, land border and seaports).
 
“This Standard Operating Procedure shall be valid w.e.f 11th January 2022 (00.01 hrs IST) till further orders. Based on the risk assessment, this document shall be reviewed from time to time,” the health ministry order read. 

Those who are planning to travel have to fill in the self-declaration form on the online Air Suvidha portal before the scheduled travel.
 
Travellers need to fill in details about their travel details of the last 14 days. They need to upload negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test report on the portal and the test should be conducted 72 hours before the journey. As per the revised guidelines, passengers will also have to submit a declaration on the authenticity of the report.

 
Passengers will also have to give an undertaking on the portal or otherwise to Ministry of Civil Aviation through concerned airlines before they are allowed to undertake the journey. All travellers who need to undertake the COVID-19 testing on arrival should pre-book it on the Air Suvidha portal. The passengers have been advised to download the Aarogya Setu app.
 
Travellers from certain countries are at-risk and have been identified for additional follow-up. Besides this, airlines will also inform these travellers about post-arrival testing, quarantine in case of a negative report, stringent isolation protocols if tested positive, etc.
 
Guidelines for travellers from these countries:

• Submission of sample for post-arrival COVID-19 test at the point of arrival (self-paid). Such travellers will be required to wait for their test results at the arrival airport before leaving or taking a connecting flight.
• If tested negative they will follow home quarantine for 7 days and shall undertake RT-PCR test on the 8th day of arrival in India.
• Travelers shall also be required to upload results of repeat RT-PCR test for COVID-19 done on 8th day of arrival in India. 
• If negative, they will further self-monitor their health for the next 7 days.
• However, if such travellers are tested positive, their samples should be further sent for genomic testing at INSACOG laboratory network.
• They shall be managed at isolation facility and treated as per laid down standard protocol including contact tracing.
• The contacts of such positive case should be kept under home quarantine monitored strictly by the concerned State Government as per laid down protocol.

As per the new guidelines, airlines can allow only those passengers to board the flights who have filled in the self-declaration form on the Air Suvidha portal and only asymptomatic travellers will be allowed to board after thermal screening. 

Airlines also have to make announcements at airports, in flights and during transit about COVID-19 like precautionary measures to follow and testing requirements. 

The airlines' crew is expected to ensure that COVID-appropriate behavior is followed at all times inside the flights and isolate any passenger who reports coronavirus symptoms during the flight as per protocol.
 
Children under five years of age are exempt from pre- and post-arrival testing. If they are found symptomatic for coronavirus on arrival or during home quarantine, they will be tested and treated as per health ministry's protocol. 

The revised guidelines define contacts of suspect case as “co-passengers seated in the same row, 3 rows in front and 3 rows behind along with identified Cabin Crew.” 

All community contacts of those travellers who tested positive during home quarantine period would be subjected to quarantine for 14 days and tested as per ICMR protocol.