Guidelines For International Passengers Travelling To India

New guidelines for international passengers travelling to India 

With the advent of Covid-19 major countries around the world had imposed travel restrictions for people travelling to and from the country. These travel restrictions were put in place to control the outbreak of the virus and ensure that people's health and safety were not compromised. When the outbreak first began in early 2020, countries were quick to impose several travel restrictions. 

However, with the virus being controlled to a certain extent and more than 42/% of the world's population vaccinated, with some countries having almost 99% vaccinated individuals, travel restrictions have been eased throughout. India is no less, and with nearly 48.1 million people vaccinated, new guidelines have been put in place for international passengers travelling to this country. 

Read on to learn more about the new travel guidelines for international passengers travelling to India. 

Covid-19 Situation in India 

India was one of the countries to be worst hit by the Coronavirus. This was because India was a bit too late in taking preventive measures against the virus, and with more than a billion people in the population, safety measures were hard to put in place. Thus, the covid situation in India turned out to be worse than what people had expected. This is why India had announced a complete lockdown for all modes of transport, including international flights, from March 2020. 

However, as the situation gradually continued to improve, certain travel restrictions were eased for international travellers. However, when the second wave of the virus hit, the situation was grave. With more than 44,363,000 deaths, India became one of the countries to be the worst hit by the virus in the second wave. Thus, serious travel restrictions were again put in place. However, as the second wave gradually came under control and countries worldwide were travel restrictions for people, India also made drastic changes to its earlier proposed travel bans.

While the Ministry of Civil Aviation in India announced that international flights from certain countries would be allowed, flights flying from the worst-hit countries were banned from flying to India. As of December 2021, India has a new set of travel restrictions for international passengers. Let's have a look at them. 

Recent guidelines for International Passengers travelling to India

Although the new variant of Covid-19, the Omicron, has been detected in countries other than India, and there is widespread speculation that there might be a possibility of a third wave, the Indian government has issued a new set of rules for international passengers travelling to India. These guidelines were announced after a high-level meeting was conducted at the national level to review the state of public health. 

The following guidelines were proposed and are effective from 1st December 2021. 

1. International passengers travelling to India should submit their travel history for the past 14 days on the Government of India portal called Air Suvidha.

2. Travellers should be uploading negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test reports on the portal before booking their flight tickets. They should have taken the test within 732 hours of the commencement of their journey.

3. Airlines will only allow boarding to those individuals who have filled up the Self-Declaration form available on the Air Suvidha portal and have uploaded a negative RT-PCR report. 

4. The Indian airport will inform those passengers who are travelling from high-risk countries whether they need to undergo testing here. If they are tested negative, they will have to complete a certain quarantine period. If they are tested positive, they will have to follow stringent isolation protocols. 

5. The countries which are deemed to be high-risk are the UK, the European countries, South Africa, Brazil, China, Botswana, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Israel. 

6. Passengers will also have to undergo RT-PCR testing when they arrive at the airport. They will also be required for their test results before commencing their journey, leaving the airport or booking any other flight. 

7. If passengers are tested negative, they will have to be quarantined for 7 days. They will be re-tested on their arrival in India, and if the result is negative again, they will have to self-monitor their health for the next 7 days.

8. However, if they are tested positive, their test samples will be sent to the INSACOG laboratory for genomic testing. These travellers will be managed at separate isolation facilities set up by the government and treated as per standard WHO protocols and guidelines. 

9. Contacts of people who tested positive will be kept under strict observance. These people will have to undergo home or institutional quarantine and will be closely monitored by the respective State governments.

10. Travellers flying from countries, excluding the high-risk ones, will exit the airport. However, they shall have to self-monitor their condition for the next 14 days.

11. Around 5% of the total passengers will have to undergo testing once they arrive at the airport, even if they are travelling from low-risk countries.

As you can see, these are the guidelines proposed by the Indian government to manage the health and safety of its citizens. Any individuals flouting these norms shall be subject to a penalty from the government. 

Since we are all batting the Covid-19 and although things may seem to improve, the overall situation is still uncertain. This is why major countries around the world have also put their own set of travel rules to contain the virus successfully. 

It is up to us citizens to become more aware of the grave danger that we are all in and abide by the rules and guidelines set by various nations around the world. 

Final thoughts

Thousands of people arrive in India every day from different countries, and each one of them carries a certain risk to the overall public safety and health. Thus, these travel guidelines are meant to successfully contain the virus and prevent any further outbreaks from happening. We have already seen the amount of damage this virus can cause. Thus, each individual is expected to abide by the travel laws of every country, especially in times when humanity is in peril. 

Author Bio: Suhana is a passionate blogger and digital marketing enthusiast. Suhana Williams is one of the most talented assignment experts who also provide oxmetrics assignment help through Myassignmenthelp. She enjoys the ever-evolving world of digital marketing and loves to share her opinion on every possible update with her audience. When not creating magic with her words, you can find her sky-diving or trekking in the most bizarre locations.