Omicron variant: India steps up Covid-19 testing for international flyers

The government to review the decision on resuming scheduled commercial international passenger services and the procedure on testing and surveillance of inbound passengers …

INDIA will make on-arrival Covid-19 testing mandatory for flyers from more than a dozen countries, including South Africa and Britain where the Omicron variant has been detected, the health ministry said on Monday (29).

The decision will be effective from Dec. 1 and comes after a man who recently returned from South Africa tested positive for Covid-19, though it is not yet clear which strain of the coronavirus he contracted.

Further investigations are ongoing, an official said.

‘The patient is currently under observation and is displaying mild symptoms,’ Pradeep Awate, a senior health official in Maharashtra state where the man is isolating, told Reuters.

‘Still, we are monitoring him out of abundant caution.’

The federal health ministry said all arrivals from Europe, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel will be tested at the airport using the RT-PCR method.

Additionally, 5 percent of all travelers from other countries will be randomly tested, the ministry added.

India reported 8,309 new coronavirus infections on Monday, taking the total to 34.58 million - only behind the tally of the US. Deaths rose by 236 to 468,790, health ministry data showed.

India to review decision on Intl flights

The Narendra Modi government on Sunday (28) decided to review the decision on resuming scheduled commercial international passenger services and the standard operating procedure (SOP) on testing and surveillance of inbound passengers, especially from nations that have been identified as ‘at risk’ in the wake of the emergence of ‘Omicron’, the new Covid-19 variant which has raised concern.

The decision was taken at an urgent meeting which was chaired by Indian home secretary Ajay Bhalla and attended by various stakeholders, an official spokesperson informed.

The meeting was held a day after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did a high-level review on ‘Omicron’. The government had recently announced that scheduled international commercial flights would resume on December 15.

Sources in the Indian home ministry said that the overall global situation in the wake of the Omicron variant was comprehensively reviewed at the meeting and various preventive measures that are already in place and need to be further strengthened were discussed.

New Delhi will review the decision on the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services as