Delhi government issues quarantine order for those returning from UK

In an attempt to arrest the rising cases in Delhi, the state government on Friday announced certain rules to be followed by people returning to the national capital from the United Kingdom, where a mutant variant of the coronavirus has been fast spreading.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also took to Twitter to post the details of the order, which he said is being implemented to “protect Delhiites from exposure to virus from the UK”.

“All those arriving from UK, who test positive will be isolated in an isolation facility. Negative ones will be taken to a quarantine facility for 7 days followed by 7 days home quarantine,” Kejriwal tweeted.

In addition, the chief minister also said that passengers arriving from the UK will have to undergo a self-paid mandatory RT-PCR test at the airport.

On Thursday, Kejriwal had urged the Centre to extend the suspension of flights to and from the UK in order to slow down the spread of the variant strain of the coronavirus first detected there.

Four more Delhi residents had tested positive for the new coronavirus strain, as on Thursday, even as Health Minister Satyendar Jain appealed to the Centre to extend the ban on flights between the two nations.

Delhi has so far reported 13 cases of the mutant variant of COVID-19.