The latest COVID wave in China has prompted Indian authorities to err on the side of caution.
With a dramatic surge of COVID cases in China and some other countries, India has decided to re-introduce random COVID testing of incoming international passengers. The country relaxed most COVID-related rules last month but wants to play it safe by testing a tiny fraction of incoming passengers from abroad.
Testing 2% of passengers
From December 24th, Indian authorities will start testing 2% of all arriving international passengers randomly. The latest development comes as India’s neighboring country, China, battles an astronomical surge in new COVID infections.
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The Indian Express states that Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote to Rajiv Bansal in the aviation ministry to coordinate with airport operators and Air Port Health Offices (APHOS), ensuring 2% of international passengers undergo random post-arrival testing at airports.
The new rule will come into effect from 10:00 on December 24th.
Protocol
According to the letter, the airlines (preferably from different countries) will identify the passengers to be tested, following which they will be allowed to leave the airport.
In case a sample is found positive, it will be sent for genomic testing at a designated lab. A copy of the report will also be shared with the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme of the government as well as with APHOS.
Eventually, the concerned state or the union territory will decide on the follow-up steps.
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Most rules were relaxed last month
Random testing of passengers in India is being introduced a month after most COVID rules were relaxed for arriving international passengers. A drop in the severity of infections coupled with an increasing vaccination rate globally gave confidence to authorities to scrap most rules to make traveling easier.
The new guidelines only mandate random testing, and there are no reports of bringing back other rules as of now.
Since November 22nd, arriving passengers are no longer required to be fully vaccinated, although the government still prefers if they are. In-flight masks have also been moved to the “preferable” category.
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A notable omission from last month’s circular was the need to complete a self-declaration form, which all arriving passengers were required to submit before boarding their flights.
The Air Suvidha form was a way for international passengers to declare their health status online, without which airlines wouldn’t allow boarding.
While it was deemed crucial during the height of the pandemic, passengers had been increasingly asking authorities to remove it as COVID cases have gone down globally.
It’s too soon to determine the extent of the global consequence of the COVID surge in China and whether it will have an effect on the border policies of other countries. For now, India has started with random testing to monitor the situation.
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Source: The Indian Express
