No quarantine for asymptomatic passengers landing at IGI

NEWDELHI: The Delhi government has decided to go with the Centre’s standard operating procedure (SOP) for domestic flights arriving at the Indira Gandhi International Airport from Monday, when operations resume in parts of the country. This means passengers who land in the National Capital and are asymptomatic will not require quarantine or isolation.

On Sunday, Delhi’s chief secretary Vijay Dev issued an order directing all concerned authorities to “ensure compliance” to guidelines issued by the Union ministry of health and family welfare.

The annexed guidelines in the order — which HT has seen — said, “Asymptomatic passengers will be permitted to go with the advice that they shall self-monitor their health for 14 days. In case they develop any symptoms, they shall inform the district surveillance officer or the state/ national call centre (1075).”

It said, “Those found symptomatic will be isolated and taken to the nearest health facility. They will be assessed for clinical severity in the health facility. Those having moderate or severe symptoms will be admitted to dedicated Covid health facilities and managed accordingly. Those with mild symptoms will be given the option of home isolation or isolated in a Covid care centre…”

Though the Centre allowed states to prepare their own SOPs, the Delhi government chose to abide by the guidelines broadly drafted by the Union ministry, Dev confirmed on Sunday.

Several states have rolled out stricter rules for arriving passengers. Karnataka, for instance, will mandatorily quarantine people coming from worst-affected states.

On Sunday, aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri and officials from his department held several meetings with other states to convince them to allow services to resume.

For departures, Delhi has drafted protocol that covers areas including the airport entrance, the area outside the terminal, baggage scanning, check-in, security check and waiting area.