Air travel guidelines amid COVID surge: Health ministry to test 2 percent of all international travellers

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Friday said that airlines' crew members will have to bring such identified passengers to the testing facility at the airport.

"The airport operators would create necessary infrastructure to facilitate random testing of international arriving passengers at their respective airports," the communication said.

Travellers will submit their samples and be allowed to leave the airport thereafter. If a traveller tests positive, their sample will be sent for further genomic sequencing and they will be isolated/treated as per protocol.

The communication has been sent to the aviation regulator DGCA and copies have been marked to all scheduled commercial airlines, airport operators as well as to states and Union Territories (UTs), among others.

"The cost of testing shall be reimbursed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on submission of duly certified bills to APHOs," the release said.

Unchanged from the previous guidelines enforced in November, the ministry suggests that all travellers should preferably be fully vaccinated as per the approved primary schedule of vaccination in their country.

Passengers with COVID-19 symptoms during travel will be isolated as per protocol. They must be masked, isolated and segregated from other passengers and moved to an isolation facility.

Upon arrival, the MoHFW recommends thermal screening of all passengers by health officials. Those found to be symptomatic should be isolated. Travellers are advised to self-monitor their health post arrival and report any symptoms to their nearest health facility.

Addressing the Lok Sabha during its 2022 Winter Session, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said that India was reporting 153 cases of COVID-19 daily.

Government sources told CNBC-TV18 that direct flights between China and India remain suspended and there are no instructions, as of now, to suspend any other flights.

"We don't have any direct flights from China to India or from India to China but as of now, there is no such order issued to stop connecting flights to India which is coming via China," the source said. They also added that while the Ministry of Civil Aviation is an executing ministry, the final decision will come from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Random sample testing for coronavirus will be conducted at airports for passengers arriving from China and other countries because of the recent surge in cases in some parts of the world, official sources had said on Wednesday.

"The health ministry is examining reintroduction of mandatory 'air suvidha' forms for international arrivals with details of RT-PCR test conducted 72 hours prior to travel or complete vaccination proof for passengers coming from China and other countries reporting high number of Covid cases," an official source told PTI.

The source said that "a decision in this regard will only be taken after monitoring the Covid situation in the country for a few weeks and if warranted, as a matter of abundant precaution in view of increasing trajectory of cases globally".

The Indian Medical Association on Thursday issued an advisory on the impending COVID outbreak, recommending the use of face masks in public spaces and to avoid international travel.

Mandaviya assured Lok Sabha members in the Parliamentary session today that the Health Ministry is keeping an eye on the COVID-19 situation and taking necessary steps.

"Covid is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. We are prepared to manage any situation," Mandaviya had said on Wednesday.

The surveillance system for whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track variants through the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network should be strengthened, he had said.

States and union territories have been requested to send samples of all Covid positive cases to INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLs) on a daily basis for sequencing and track new variants, if any. Besides, implementation of thermal screening is also being explored.

India has been witnessing a steady decline in cases with the average daily cases falling to 158 in the week ending December 19, the minister had been briefed in a presentation.

However, a consistent rise in global daily average cases has been reported for the last six weeks, with 5.9 lakh daily average cases reported in the week ending December 19, he had been informed.

India logged 185 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases declined to 3,402, according to health ministry data updated on Thursday.