The new Omicron variant of Covid-19, which originated in South Africa, has been declared as a Variant of Concern by the WHO and the India government is introducing new travel guidelines especially for international travellers to prevent the spread of this strain in India.
Must Read: Here’s What You Need to Know the Omicron Variant and How it Affects Travel Plans
Decisions taken by the government of India regarding international travel
India latest guidelines state that all international travellers will have to submit a negative RT-PCR test as well as a detailed record of their travel history on India’s Air Suvidha digital portal in order to be allowed on any India flights. The travel history has to cover 14 days before the flight and the RT-PCR test cannot be more than 72 hours before the flight takes off.
The Union Health Ministry has announced that these guidelines will come into effect from December 1st. The Health Ministry has also decided to identify some high-risk countries so that international travellers from those countries can be tested again after their flight at the airport. Those who test positive will have to stay in quarantine in government facilities while those who test negatively will have to quarantine privately.
People in private quarantine will have to get tested on the 8th day after their arrival and continue to quarantine for the rest of the 14 days. But the travellers will not be expected to pay for their own testing at the airport. The Union Health Ministry has also announced that 5% of all international travellers, whether they are coming from high-risk countries or not, will be subjected to random Covid-19 tests at the airport.
These new India travel guidelines come as a major blow for the country’s aviation sector. After months of slowed activity due to Covid-19, commercial international flights were expected to fully resume from mid-December. But the appearance of this new Covid variant has put all those plans on hold and once again international travel has been restricted. The government has claimed that discussions about the full restarting of international air-travel will only be undertaken depending on global developments in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis.
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How can Omicron affect India?
According to India Covid news, India is still not at high risk for the spread of the Omicron variant. No confirmed cases of the variant have been reported in the country as of yet. But the government has asked all state governments and Union Territories to prepare extra quarantine facilities and put in place surveillance systems to monitor home-quarantined arrivals into the country. After the massive casualties of the second wave in April and May 2021, the government is not ready to take any risks.
Doctors are also very wary of the Omicron variant of the virus because it is said to have some immune system escaping mechanisms that may make the vaccines administered against Covid a little less effective against this strain. Many researchers all over the world have already started working on vaccines for Omicron, but till then the only method to stop the spread of this fast-transmitting strain in India is to control the entry of international travellers into the country.
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