Check latest Covid-19 guidelines at airports for international passengers

With rampant Covid-19 cases in China, India is staring at the fourth wave of coronavirus and the Indian government has swung into action curtailing the outburst of new variant of the deadly virus. 

Clarifying its stand over international arrivals, the Ministry of Health said in a statement that travellers coming from "selected countries" will have to go through mandatory RT-PCR tests. 

Earlier, the Ministry of Health declared that 2 percent of passengers travelling on international routes will be subjected to random sampling tests at the airport in India. 

Adhering to the guidelines, Mumbai International Airport, Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport, and Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport started the random sampling.

The Health Ministry announced that Covid-19 tests will be made mandatory for 2 percent of all international arrivals at Indian airports.

The testing of all such passengers has begun today at airports in India. Airlines have been asked to identify 2 percent passengers from each flight that will undergo random sampling at all international airports for passengers coming from various countries.

However, few countries have been shortlisted as more dangerous than others and additional tests will be done on passengers coming from these countries.

Passengers coming from China, Thailand, Japan, S. Korea, and Hong Kong are subject to additional tests apart from 2 percent random sampling and would have to follow the mandatory procedure.

The government of India has made filling of Air Suvidha forms mandatory for passengers coming from the aforementioned international destinations.

The move has been made to control the spread of the virus in the nation. The forms are a self-declaration for the health status of the passengers travelling between nations.

At the same time, the Union Minister for Health Mansukh Mandaviya also made RT-PCR tests mandatory for all passengers arriving from the aforementioned countries. If found positive or symptomatic, the passengers will be quarantined.