Curbs on int’l travellers eased from Monday
NEW DELHI: The Union ministry of health and family welfare on Thursday revised its guidelines for international arrivals in the wake of an improvement in the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic crisis.
The latest guidelines that will be effective from February 14 removed the demarcation of ‘at-risk’ and other countries.
Further, the health ministry recommended 14 days of selfmonitoring post-arrival as against a seven-day home quarantine which was mandated earlier.According to the latest rules, passengers travelling to India should submit complete and factual information in the self-declaration form on the Air Suvidha Portal (https://www.newdelhiairport.in/airsuvidha/apho-registration) before the scheduled travel, including travel details of the last 14 days.
Passengers will have to upload a negative RT-PCR test report within 72 hours before undertaking the journey or a certificate of completing the full primary vaccination schedule.
Airlines and agencies concerned should provide the dos and don’ts to travellers along with their tickets. Airlines are only allowed to board those passengers who have filled all details in the above self-declaration form and present their RT-PCR test report or vaccination certificate, the guidelines added.Only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed inside the flight at the time of boarding. They have also been requested to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile phones.
In airports, in-flight announcements have to be made about Covid-19, including precautionary measures to be followed in flights and during transit, the health ministry said.
The in-flight crew has to ensure that Covid-appropriate behaviour is followed at all times and any passenger reporting symptoms have to be isolated as per protocol. Upon arrival, de-boarding should be done to ensure physical distancing. All passengers will have to undergo thermal scanning at the airport and they will also have to present the self-declaration form to the health officials.
The above guidelines are also applicable for travellers arriving in India through seaports or land ports. However, the online registration facility is not available.