Health Ministry issues guidelines for international arrivals
New Delhi: Health Ministry has issued guidelines for international arrivals. According to the guidelines, all travellers shall give an undertaking before boarding that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days. This includes 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitoring of health.
Home quarantine may be permitted for 14 days 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. Use of Aarogya Setu app shall be mandatory in such cases.
A list of Dos and Don’ts shall be provided along with ticket to the travelers by the agencies concerned. All passengers shall be advised to download Arogya Setu app on their mobile devices. At the time of boarding the flight or ship, only asymptomatic travelers will be allowed to board after thermal screening. Passengers arriving through the land borders will also have to undergo the same protocol and only those who are asymptomatic will be enabled to cross the border into India.
Self-declaration form shall be filled in duplicate by the person in the flight or ship and a copy given to Health and Immigration officials at the airport, seaport or landport. The form will also be made available on Aarogya Setu app. Suitable precautionary measures such as environmental sanitation and disinfection shall be ensured at the airports and within the flights. During boarding and at the airports, all possible measures to ensure social distancing must be ensured.
While on board, required precautions such as wearing of masks, environmental hygiene, respiratory hygiene, and hand hygiene are to be observed by airline or ship staff, crew and all passengers. On arrival, thermal screening would be carried for all passengers. The passengers found to be symptomatic during screening shall be immediately isolated and taken to medical facility.
The remaining passengers shall be taken to suitable institutional quarantine facilities, to be arranged by the States and UTs. These passengers shall be kept under institutional quarantine for a minimum period of 7 days. They shall be tested as per ICMR protocol and if they test positive, they shall be assessed clinically. If they are assessed as mild cases, they will be allowed home isolation or isolated in the Covid Care Centres as appropriate.
Those having moderate or severe symptoms will be admitted to dedicated COVID Health facilities and managed accordingly. If found negative, they shall be advised to further isolate themselves at home and self-monitor their health for 7 days. In case, any symptoms develop they shall inform the district surveillance officer or the state national call center number – 1075.