Amid the Omicron cases are rising across the globe, countries have been adopting new rules and regulations to curb the spread of the coronavirus variant.
If you plan to visit your home town in India during the Christmas-New Year vacations, it is important to know the travel restrictions and regulations put in place by the national and various state governments.
Here are the new guidelines;
India has started categorising travellers by whether they come from high-risk or low-risk countries in determining the rules from December 1.
So far, 12 countries and regions are included in the high-risk list– countries in Europe including The United KingdomSouth Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, and Israel.
Travellers from these high-risk countries, including those who have been in these countries in the last 14 days before landing in India, should follow extra steps after arrival. The passengers should have a negative RT-PCR taken at most 72 hours before the departure and fill in the Air Suvidha health form. Along with these, passengers are required to book an RT-PCR/Rapid PCR test before arrival, and take a PCR test on arrival at the airport and wait for the results.
If the result turns negative, the passenger must self-quarantine for seven days. On the 8th day, travellers must take another PCR test to end self-quarantine. Also, the guideline mandates monitoring health for 14 days after arrival.
Though these are the national guidelines, each state has its own rules.
Passengers flying into Mumbai have to undergo an institutional quarantine if they have been in South Africa, Botswana, or Zimbabwe in the last 14 days.
Other countries
The rules remain largely the same for passengers not having been in any of the above countries in the last 14 days. Due to Omicron’s spread, the government has decided that 2% of randomly selected passengers from all international flights would have to take a PCR test on arrival.
All arriving passengers will need to monitor their health for 14 days but are not required to quarantine or take additional tests.
Since the travel regulations are being revised considering the spread of the virus, the current guidelines can be updated anytime. To know the real-time Indian government updates, visit the MoHFW website.
