International passengers transiting through six high-risk nations – China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand and Japan – are now required to upload Covid-19 negative report 72 hours prior to their journey before they land in India, announced the Union Health Ministry as part of its revised guidelines to states amid growing concerns over the spread of coronavirus strains.
Earlier, the rule applied only to passengers arriving in India from these six nations.
“As per the revised guidelines, a mandatory requirement for pre-departure RT-PCR testing (to be conducted within 72 hrs prior to undertaking the journey) has been introduced for passengers in all international flights from these countries. This will also apply to transiting passengers through the countries irrespective of their originating countries before coming to any Indian Airport," according to the ministry circular.
"Mandatory pre-departure RT-PCR testing (to be conducted within 72 hrs prior to undertaking the journey) introduced for passengers in all international flights from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand and Japan": MoHFW pic.twitter.com/z4AhnljzIT— ANI (@ANI) January 2, 2023
Accordingly, the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Air Suvidha Portal has to be made operational for passengers on all international flights from these countries, with a provision to allow international travellers arriving in India to submit negative RT-PCR test reports as well as a self-declaration form on this portal.
“This arrangement is in practice with effect from 10 am on Sunday, January 1, 2023," the letter said, adding the existing practice of post-arrival random testing of 2 per cent of travellers irrespective of the port of departure shall continue.
Official sources, citing the pattern of previous outbreaks, had earlier said that the next few days were going to be crucial as India may see a surge in cases in January. Covid cases have lately seen a surge in China and some other countries, prompting both the Centre and the Delhi government to restrategise.
India also conducted mock drills at health facilities in several states on December 27 to check operational readiness to deal with any spurt in the Covid infection.
Meanwhile, India recorded 173 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have declined to 2,670, according to Union health ministry data updated on Monday.
The total tally of Covid cases has been recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,78,822) and the death toll stands at 5,30,707 with two fatalities — one reconciled by Kerala and one reported by Uttarakhand — in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 0.19 per cent while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.14 per cent, it said. The ministry said 92,955 tests have been conducted in the last 24 hours. The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the ministry’s website.
The ministry said a decrease of 36 cases has been recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,41,45,445, while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.19 per cent, it said.
India on Sunday registered 265 new coronavirus infections and a decline in active cases to 2,706.
(With PTI inputs)
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