Omicron: New Travel Rules To India

The Covid-19 new variant Omicron is spreading scare among the countries and many of them are mulling over a complete travel ban. The Indian government today issued new rules for international travelers that come into action from midnight today.

All the passengers from ‘at-risk countries will be tested for Covid on arrival and are not allowed to leave the airport until the test results are available. If negative, they will be in a seven-day quarantine and get a re-test on the 8th day. State officials will look into their homes to make sure of effective home isolation.

If the result is positive, passengers will be isolated and treated. The samples will be sent to the ISACOG labs network to determine the strain. The contact tracing and other formalities come in immediately.

The countries that are on the at-risk list are the United Kingdom, all 44 countries in Europe South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong, Israel, and Botswana. The travelers visiting from these countries are advised to be prepared for the wait time at airports until the results of RT-PCR tests are available.

Beginning December 1, all international passengers must submit a self-declaration form to an online government portal that includes a 14-day travel history and a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to their departure, as per the guidelines issued by India’s Health Ministry.

At least 17 countries and territories have confirmed cases of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron.