Maharashtra Govt Changes Travel Guidelines, Quarantine Rules For International, Domestic Passengers: Details Here

The government of Maharashtra on Thursday announced revised its travel protocols and quarantine rules for both International and domestic passengers arriving in the state.

This comes after the Health Ministry of India on Wednesday asked Maharashtra Government to align with the travel guidelines issued by the Centre Govt.

The state govt has now created a brand new category of ‘ultra risk’ countries. Passengers from these nations will be sent to institutional quarantine.

Also, passengers from ‘At Risk’ countries will no longer need institutional quarantine upon arrival in Maharashtra.

Here are some key points proposed by the Maharashtra Govt for international travelers;

Maharashtra’s New Quarantine Rules

• The passengers arriving from countries at ‘ultra risk’ ( South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Eswatini ) shall be de-boarded on priority, and airport authority or CEO MIAL shall have separate dedicated counters for their verification and checking.

• Such passengers shall be sent to mandatory 7 days institutional quarantine. Besides, any passenger who visited any of these ultra-risk countries during the past 15 days shall be sent for Institutional quarantine for 7 days.

• Any passengers who are symptomatic on arrival shall also be sent for Institutional quarantine. An RT-PCR test shall be conducted on the day of arrival (day 1) for all these passengers.

• After the completion of seven days of Institutional quarantine, an R1-PCR test shall be conducted again and if the test result is negative, they shall undergo seven days of home quarantine. If tested positive, such passengers shall be admitted to Seven Hills Hospital or a dedicated private hospital.

• Except for those passengers who arc described in para-3, the other passengers from “at-risk” countries shall be subject to protocol prescribed by G.O.I. in the guideline issued on 30th November 2021.

• Passengers travelling from countries excluding those countries at risk shall be subjected to the protocol prescribed by G.O.I. in the guidelines issued on 30th November 2021.

• Domestic passengers who are arriving in Maharashtra have to be double-vaccinated or RT-PCR negative in tests carried out within 72 hours before boarding.

• CEO MIAL to instruct all domestic airlines to mandate all domestic passengers who are not double vaccinated boarding for Mumbai, to carry a negative RT-PCR report done within 72 hours of boarding without any exemption.

• Passengers crossing the inter-state borders by road shall carry a negative RT-PCR report done within 72 hours of crossing. If the RT-PCR report is not available. such passengers shall be screened and tested (RT-PCRJ antigen) at the check posts.

• In extremely exceptional cases, RT-PCR shall be allowed for domestic passengers at Mumbai Airport on arrival. Screening of passengers at railway stations and Bus Depots shall be done. If a passenger is found symptomatic, testing shall be done and Covid-19 protocols shall be followed.

Also Read: DGCA India Postpones Resumption of Scheduled International Flights