India announces mandatory 7-day home quarantine for all international passengers amid COVID-19 surge in the country

• All international travellers coming to India will have to go under mandatory 7-day home quarantine and get themselves tested on the 8th day of their arrival.
• Travellers will be required to upload their results of the RT-PCR test conducted on the 8th day on the Air Suvidha Portal.
• The new standard operating procedure will be valid from January 11 till further notice.

As per the new notification issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on Friday, all the international passengers coming to India will have to go under mandatory 7-day home quarantine and get themselves tested on the 8th day of their arrival.

“ A subsection (2% of the total flight passengers) shall undergo post-arrival testing at random at the airport on arrival.” said the notification.

Furthermore, travellers will be required to upload their results of the RT-PCR test conducted on the 8th day on the Air Suvidha Portal. If tested negative, the travellers will have to monitor themselves again for the next 7 days.

If such travellers are tested positive, their samples will be further sent for genomic testing at INSACOG laboratory network. They will be managed at isolation facility and treated as per laid down standard protocol including contact tracing

The notification further said, “The passengers found to be symptomatic during screening shall be immediately isolated and taken to a medical facility as per health protocol. If tested positive, their contacts shall be identified and managed as per laid down protocol.”

The new standard operating procedure will be valid from January 11 till further notice.

Travellers, who are planning to travel will have to upload their negative RT-PCR results on the Air Suvidha Portal. The test should be conducted 72 hours prior to the trip

The notification further said that the travellers arriving from ‘at risk’ countries will be tested upon arrival and the ministry has advised the travellers to book their tests in advance for their convenience.

There are the countries that are included in the ‘at risk’ category — European countries including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, Israel, Congo, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Zambia.

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