The Union Health Minister had issued new Guidelines for international arrivals to stop the spread of coronavirus. As it is seen that most of cases are found in foreign travelers or person who visit any foreign country and got infected by virus. These New Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are commencing from mid night 11.59pm on February 22nd till next orders. The Ministry of civil Aviation gave an alert to all new passengers that “SOPs for international passengers arriving to India have been updated. Make sure you take all necessary Precautions and follow the guidelines while travelling”.
Various Guidelines for International Arrivals commencing from today include –
- All international travelers will have to submit a form of self-declaration for COVID-19. They have to submit this form online via Air Suvidha Portal before the time of travel.
- All travelers have to go through COVID-19 test and they have to submit or upload ‘tested negative’ COVID-19 report on Online Portal newdelhiairport.in.
- All travelers have to go through a COVID-19 test and this test should have been conducted within 72 hours before beginning the journey and each passenger will have to submit a declaration with respect to the authenticity of the report. These reports have to be made as per the guidelines.
- At the time of boarding the flight, only those passengers are allowed to enter who is gone through thermal screening.
- International travelers arriving through seaports/land ports will also have to comply with the same protocol, except that the online registration facility for such passengers is not currently available as per the guidelines of the civil aviation ministry.
- Airlines can recognize and segregate in-flight foreign travelers arriving from/transiting via the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa (during the past 14 days).
- All travelers arriving by flights originating in the United Kingdom, Europe or the Middle East have been requested to go through a self-paid confirmatory test on arrival at Indian ports or airports.
- All travelers from Europe and the Middle East must submit samples to the designated area and leave the airport. If the test report is positive, they will be treated in accordance with the standard health protocol but if it is negative then they can freely move ahead, but they have been advised to self-monitor their health for coming 14 days.
As of March 23rd, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in India. Overseas flights to and from India are currently operated as per air bubble agreements with various countries. Domestic flights resumed in India on 25th May, following a two-month gap due to coronavirus lockdown.
