80 Flights, Over 16000 Passengers Land At Delhi Airport From ‘At Risk’ Countries

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has handled as many as 80 flights from the countries identified as “high-risk” after December 1.

As per senior officials of Delhi Airport, over 16,000 passengers who landed in Delhi from these countries have so far undergone the mandatory COVID-19 test at the airport so far.

It is worth mentioning here that in the wake of the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, India has placed a total of 11 countries in the ‘At Risk’ category.

These countries are — South Africa, The UK, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Israel, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, New Zealand, and Botswana.

As per the latest guidelines issued by the Health Ministry of India, it is mandatory for all passengers arriving from ‘At Risk’ countries to undergo mandatory Covid-19 tests at the Delhi airport upon their arrival

Moreover, such passengers have also been required to submit details of their last 14 days of travel and upload them on the government’s Air Suvidha portal.

It must be noted that the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Govt of India on Tuesday made it compulsory for all inbound passengers to register on the Air Suvidha Portal.

The registration on Air Suvidha will not only help them keep a record of every passenger but will also allow the flyers to pre-register for the mandatory COVID-19 test and reduce hassles at the airports.

As per a report of News 18, on Tuesday, 07th Dec alone, till afternoon, at least eight flights had landed at the Delhi airport from these ‘At Risk’ countries in which carried approx. 1300 passengers.

Between 01-06 Dec 202, a total of 72 flights from ‘At Risk’ had landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and over 15,000 passengers have arrived on such flights.

In all, around 16,307 passengers have flown to Delhi from these countries in as many as 80 flights, so far.

As per the latest guidelines, if tested positive, a passenger is kept under isolation and the test samples are sent for genome sequencing to establish if it is the Omicron variant.

If tested negative, passengers will observe a 7-day home quarantine. They will be tested again on the eighth day.

Also Read: Traveling To US Or UK? Must Check The New Covid-19 Testing Rules For International Arrivals