Travellers From 82 Countries Will Be Allowed In India Without Quarantine From 14th February

Travellers From 82 Countries Will Be Allowed In India Without Quarantine From 14th February

On Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced that internationally vaccinated travellers from 82 countries will be allowed entry without quarantine from February 14.

Also gone will be the requirement that passengers from certain countries identified as “at-risk” are subjected to mandatory testing upon arrival. There was an overabundance of passengers at airports due to this, which forced them to purchase costly rapid RT-PCR tests to avoid long lines.

Additionally, the ‘at-risk’ tag has been removed from countries. The requirement for countries ‘at-risk’ to give samples at the port of arrival and wait until the results have been obtained, was therefore dispensed with, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted on Thursday.

At the beginning of the year, passengers from countries that were considered ‘at-risk’ were required to undergo quarantine at their home countries after arrival in India.
As per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, vaccinated passengers from several countries benefit from a policy of reciprocity when entering the United States.

“Independently of reciprocity, only those travellers from countries providing Indians with a quarantine-free entry will be allowed for relaxation,” the guidelines say. These countries include countries with which India has entered into a mutual recognition agreement over-vaccination certificates that are either recognised by their national authorities or recognized by the World Health Organization.

Indian citizens who are fully vaccinated are also permitted entry without undergoing quarantine in countries with which India does not have such an agreement, but which exempt Indian citizens who are fully vaccinated.

Health Ministries have identified 82 countries like this, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

A passenger travelling to India must submit a self-declaration form and either a negative report or a certificate proving that the full vaccination has been completed. An aircraft will conduct random post-arrival tests on no more than 2% of passengers. There will be no difference in the protocol for passengers arriving at land ports or seaports. Travel industry officials were pleased with the change.

Jyoti Mayal, President of, Travel Agents Association of India, stated this was a long-awaited move that will bring hope to travellers planning to visit India as well as provide employment and business opportunities for the fraternity of travel agents which is on the verge of collapse due to the pandemic.”

Having stated this, she declared that the industry now hopes that the government will directly reopen international flights to India.

Under its air-bubble agreements with 35 countries, India only permits a limited number of flights from and to each country. The government originally announced that international flights would resume on December 15, but the announcement was retracted due to the spread of the Omicron variant, a variant of COVID-19.

The tourism industry estimates that COVID-19 has cost the industry approximately 150 lakhs of rupees since March 2020. Globally, India was witnessing 1.1 crore inbound tourists and 2.7 crore outbound tourists per year before COVID-19 imposed travel restrictions, which are now down to a trickle, despite the latest government figures not being available yet.

As a gift to international travellers on Valentine’s Day, the government on Thursday allowed “quarantine-free” entry for travellers from 82 countries or an RT-PCR test on the eighth day starting February 14.

As a result, international passengers arriving in India will no longer need to take Covid-19 at the airport before stepping out. A random sample of two per cent of international travellers from all countries will be taken to the airport. Once the samples have been collected, they will be allowed to leave the airport. Their results will not be revealed until after they leave. Moreover, the new rules seem to point toward the possibility of scheduled international flights beginning soon.

It is unnecessary to differentiate between countries deemed at risk and other countries. Accordingly, the need to collect samples at the port of arrival and wait up until the result is obtained from ‘at-risk’ countries will no longer be necessary, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Twitter.

According to the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, in its revised guidelines for international arrivals, there will no longer be a delineation of “at-risk” and other countries from February 14, but instead a list of countries in respect of which a primary vaccination schedule completion certificate can be uploaded on a mutually acceptable basis. The following countries are included in the list: Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Qatar, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There is no representation for China on the list.

Valentine’s Day gift! Flyers from 82 countries no longer have to undergo quarantine

“Passengers will no longer have to undergo a mandatory quarantine period of seven days. There is no longer a requirement for passengers to get tested on their eighth day after arrival and upload their test results to the government portal,” the document stated. Apart from uploading your RT-PCR report (taken 72 hours before your departure), there will be an option to upload the proof of completion of your primary Covid vaccination schedule provided by a country on a reciprocal basis.

For the next 14 days following their arrival, travellers must monitor their health. According to the statement, “If travellers develop signs and symptoms suggestive of carbon monoxide inhalation disease, they must immediately isolate themselves and contact their nearest health facility or contact the national helpline number (1075)/state helpline number,” it said.

The de-boarding process should be done with physical distance in mind. A thermographic screening would take place in front of all passengers by the health officials at the airport. Those filling out the self-declaration form online should show it to the airport health staff.

Patients who are diagnosed as symptomatic at screening after arrival will be immediately isolated and taken to a medical facility following health protocol. In case of a positive test, the contacts of the affected individuals shall be identified and handled according to established protocols.

Travellers who test positive for E. coli should have their samples sent to INSACOG’s laboratory network for further genomic testing. They will then be treated/isolated according to the government’s standard protocol.

International passengers arriving by seaports/land ports will also have to follow the same procedures, except that so far, there is no online registration facility available for such passengers.

Testing for children under five years old is exempt from both pre-arrival and post-arrival screening. The guidelines specify, however, that if a patient is found to exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 upon arrival or as part of the self-monitoring period, they must undergo testing and be treated following protocol.

edited and proofread by nikita sharma