India to make COVID negative report mandatory for some international flyers

The India government is mulling to make COVID-19 negative reports mandatory for international travellers arriving from countries with high numbers of positive cases, union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said during an interview on Friday.

The new ruling is likely to come into effect from next week.

This comes as there is a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases in many countries such China, Japan, South Korea, the US, France, Greece and Italy.

The passengers will have to upload their reports on a government website and undergo thermal screening upon landing, Mandaviya said.

On Thursday, the Centre issued new travel guidelines for international travellers at the airport, which include random Covid tests for a certain number of passengers in a particular flight.

In a communication on Friday, the ministry said that airlines are required to direct their crew members to lead and bring identified 2 per cent of international arriving passengers to the testing facility at the airport.

After the random testing, the passenger has to furnish the correct contact and address details to the Airport Health Officers (APHOs) airport authorities.