The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued guidelines for international arrivals into India through air, sea and land routes, mandating 14-day quarantine for every person entering the country.
The quarantine period would include 7 days of paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self monitoring of health.
Only for exceptional and compelling reasons such as cases of human distress, pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parents accompanied by children below 10 years, as assessed by the receiving states, home quarantine may be permitted for 14 days. Use of Aarogya Setu App is a must in such cases.
Besides, all inbound passengers arriving in the country have been advised to download Aarogya Set App on their mobile phones.
At the time of boarding the flight or ship, only asymptomatic travellers will be allowed to board after thermal screening.
Passengers arriving through land borders will also have to undergo the same protocol as above, and only those who are asymptomatic will be enabled to cross the border into India.
A self-declaration form in duplicate has to be filled by the person in the flight/ship and a copy of the same will be given to Health and Immigration officials present at the airport/ seaport/land port. The form is also available on Aarogya Setu App.
Apart from the sanitization and disinfection of airports and flights along with maintenance of social distancing norms, the ministry has also suggested wearing masks, environmental hygiene, respiratory hygiene, hand hygiene among others for airline and ship crew and all passengers.
On arrival, thermal screening would be carried out in respect of all the passengers by the health officials present at the airport, seaport and Iandport.
The passengers found to be symptomatic during screening shall be immediately isolated and taken to a medical facility as per health protocol and remaining passengers shall be taken to suitable institutional quarantine facilities, to be arranged by the respective state and union territory governments.
In case of someone found to be coronavirus positive, they shall be assessed clinically, the guidelines said. If they are assessed as mild cases, they will be allowed home isolation or isolated in the Covid Care Centre, either public and private facilities, as appropriate.
“Those having moderate or severe symptoms will be admitted to dedicated COVID Health facilities and managed accordingly,” it said.
The guidelines come as India is likely to open up inbound international travel in the next couple of months. All international travel has been suspended for over two months now as India went into a lockdown in March amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Government has said that it will try to start a good percentage of international passenger flights before August.
Union Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri had also said that if the virus gets under control, the international flights could resume as early as mid June.