- Pre-departure and post-arrival RT PCR tests mandatory for travellers from ‘at risk’ countries irrespective of health status
- Those found positive upon testing at airport will be will be isolated and treated as per the clinical management protocol
- Those found negative will be required to home isolate for 7 days with repeat testing at 8th day
India on Monday issued stricter travel guidelines in view of the emergence of a new Covid-19 strain ‘Omicron’. The revised Covid-19 travel guidelines will be applicable for passengers to India from countries deemed ‘at risk’ irrespective of their vaccination status. These will be applicable from December 1 and shall be in force until further developments, said the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW).
The new guidelines stipulate that such travellers will undergo a post-arrival Covid test at the airport upon arrival in addition to a pre-departure RT PCR test taken 72 hours prior to travel. Passengers found positive will be isolated and treated as per the clinical management protocol besides their samples also taken for Whole Genome Sequencing.
Those found negative can depart the airport but have to undergo home isolation for 7 days, followed by repeat testing on 8th day of arrival in India, followed by 7 days of self-monitoring.
Further, in view of reports of an increasing number of countries reporting the Omicron variant, the present guidelines also mandate that 5% of the travellers coming from countries that are not in the ‘at risk category’ will also be tested on a random basis at the airports for COVID-19.
Samples of all individuals testing positive for Covid-19, either at airports under home isolation or during random sampling, will also be sent for Whole Genomic Sequencing at identified INSACOG network laboratories to determine the presence of SARS-CoV-2 variants (including Omicron), a government statement said.
The B.1.1.529 or ‘Omicron’ strain was first reported to World Health Organisation (WHO) by South Africa on November 24. The WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on SARS-COV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-EV) November 26 classified it as ‘Variant of Concern’ (VoC) in view of large number of mutations noted in the variant some of which may make this mutation “more transmissible” and have immune escape behaviour.
States have also been advised for rigorous surveillance of international passengers, enhanced testing, monitoring the hotspots of COVID -19, ensuring augmentation of health infrastructure, including undertaking samples for whole-genome sequencing.
The 14 countries deemed ‘at risk’ from new variant include France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, the United Kingdom, Singapore, China, Mauritius, South Africa, Brazil, and New Zealand.
