Omicron threat: India imposes new travel rules from 1 December

Nov. 30: In view of rising global concerns over omicron, India is instituting from Tuesday midnight new rules for arriving international passengers, especially from ‘at-risk’ countries. Omicron is a highly contagious new variant of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). These were announced following a high-level meeting to review public health preparedness with states and UTs in view of ‘Omicron’.

Passengers from “at-risk” countries will be tested for Covid on arrival and can’t leave the airport till their RT-PCR test results are available. If found negative, they will undergo a seven-day home quarantine and be re-tested on the 8th day. State officials will physically visit their homes to ensure effective home isolation. The list of countries deemed “at-risk” for now includes the United Kingdom, all 44 countries in Europe, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Israel.

States have been advised to not let their guards down and keep a strict vigil on the international passengers coming to the country through various airports, ports, and land border crossings. The “Test, Track, Treat, Vaccinate” strategy was re-emphasised. States have also been advised to ramp up testing as the ‘Omicron’ variant reportedly can’t escape RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Tests that have been used to detect Covid so far.

While no cases of omicron have been reported so far in India, the Centre asked states and Union territories to keep their guards up