Published in: The Daily Star
Date: 03 August, 2020

Indian Health Ministry came out with fresh guidelines on Sunday night for all international air passengers and those using land borders to enter the country.

Passengers arriving in India using land borders will also have to undergo the same protocol as air travellers and only those who are asymptomatic will be allowed to cross the border into India, our New Delhi Correspondent reports.

Under the new guidelines, air travellers will have to submit a declaration on online portal at least 72 hours before the scheduled flight, committing themselves to undergoing mandatory quarantine for 14 days — seven day’s paid institutional quarantine at their own cost followed by a week-long isolation at home with self-monitoring of health. Home quarantine may be permitted only for compelling reasons such as pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parents with children of the age of 10 years or below. However, international air travellers may seek exemption from institutional quarantine by submitting a negative RTPCR test report on arrival. This test should have been conducted within 96 hours prior to undertaking the journey. The test report should be uploaded on the portal for consideration.

Each passenger shall also submit a declaration with respect to authenticity of the report and will be liable for criminal prosecution, if found otherwise. The test report could also be produced upon arrival at the point of entry airport in India. All passengers shall be advised to download contract-tracing Arogya Setu app of the Indian government on their mobile devices and at the time of boarding the flight only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board planes after thermal screening.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/india/news/india-issues-revised-guidelines-international-arrivals-1939485