Covid-19 Omicron: Tamil Nadu travel guidelines for international and domestic passengers

After two lockdowns and severe waves of COVID-19 virus, India is again facing a threat as a new variant of concern Omicron has started spreading in the country. Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian recently informed that no case has been reported with the latest variant of Covid-19 so far in the state.

A total of seven passengers, who reached Chennai and Tiruchirapalli airport from other nations like Singapore, the United States and England, tested COVID-19 positive on arrival, over the last week. However, none were found to test positive for the Omicron variant.

Amid the new scare of the more transmissible variant of coronavirus, the state has imposed travel guidelines for international and domestic flyers.

International Passengers:

• For flyers travelling to any city in the state from 'at-risk nations, an RT-PCR test on arrival is mandatory. The countries-at-risk list includes all European nations including South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, UK, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Singapore, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong and Israel.
• Travellers must wait at the airport before exiting until their test result comes negative.
• If tested positive, their samples will be sent for whole-genome sequencing. They will be admitted in a separate isolation facility.
• If tested negative, they must quarantine at home for 7 days and test again on day 8.
• Random sampling will be conducted for flyers commuting from countries other than 'at-risk'.
• 2% of all the passengers arriving from safe nations will have to undergo a mandatory test on arrival.
• All flyers must submit a self-declaration form and a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report before boarding

Domestic passengers:

• Thermal screening and health profiling is mandatory for all passengers.

• All passengers travelling from Kerala state are required to carry a vaccination certificate (both doses) or a negative RT-PCR report not earlier than 72 hours of arrival.