7-day institutional quarantine for those arriving from abroad
The Union Health Ministry on Sunday issued guidelines covering entire gamut of travelling, including international arrivals, domestic flights, train and bus for inter-State travel making clear that asymptomatic domestic passengers will be allowed to travel with a further rider that on arrival they will need to go for 14-day self-quarantine.
In case of international arrivals on the resumption of flights, the travellers will have to mandatorily check into an institutional quarantine for seven days at their own expense followed by another seven days of home isolation while only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the flight, train or bus for inter-State journey.
Specifying guidelines for the international arrivals, the Ministry said before boarding, all the travellers would have to give an undertaking that they would stick to the above rule to ensure least chances of Covid-19 transmission.
However, exceptions will be for cases related to those in distress, pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parents accompanied by children below 10 years of age. They will be asked to self-isolate at home for 14 days.
All international passengers arriving would also be advised to download Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices. At the time of boarding the flight or ship, all the asymptomatic travellers would be allowed to board after thermal screening. A list of dos and don’ts would also be provided along with the ticket by the agencies they were travelling with.
Also, self-declaration form in duplicate shall be filled by the person in the flight or ship and a copy of the same will be given to Health and Immigration officials present at the airport/seaport/landport
“The form may also be made available on Aarogya Setu app. Suitable precautionary measures such as environmental sanitation and disinfection shall be ensured at the airports as well as within the flights,” as per the guidelines.
Suitable announcement about Covid-19 including precautionary measures to be followed shall be made at airports/port and in flights/ship and during transit. While on board the flight/ ship, required precautions such as wearing of masks, environmental hygiene, respiratory hygiene, hand hygiene etc. are to be observed by airline/ ship staff, crew and all passengers, says the guidelines. On arrival, thermal screening would be carried out in respect of all the passengers by the Health officials present at the airport/ seaport/ landport while the passengers found to be symptomatic during screening shall be immediately isolated and taken to medical facility as per health protocol.
The remaining passengers shall be taken to suitable institutional quarantine facilities, to be arranged by the respective State/UT Governments. These passengers shall be kept under institutional quarantine for a minimum period of 7 days and will be tested as per the ICMR protocol. Passengers arriving through the land borders will also have to undergo the same protocol as above, and only those who are asymptomatic will be enabled to cross the border into India. The persons will have to file a elf-declaration form in duplicate in the flight/ship and a copy of the same will be given to Health and Immigration officials present at the airport/ seaport/ Iandport. The form may also be made available on Aarogya Setu app.
On Sunday, the Centre also issued guidelines for domestic air, train and inter-state bus passengers making clear that asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to proceed to their destination on arrival but will need to self-quarantine for 14 days.
This comes ahead of domestic civil aviation set to begin from Monday, while the Railways will be running 200 new passenger trains from 1 June.
The Centre has already allowed the inter-state movement of passenger vehicles and buses with restrictions and subject to mutual consent between the states or Union territories involved.
According to the guidelines for domestic travellers, dos and don’ts shall be provided along with tickets to the travellers by the agencies concerned and all passengers will be advised to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices. All passengers will have to wear face covers or masks during boarding and trav elling.Further, all passengers will be required to undergo thermal screening at the point of departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the flight, train or bus with the advice that they should self-monitor their health for 14 days. Thermal screening will also take place at the exit point.
Measures to ensure social distancing will have to be taken at airports/railway stations/ bus terminals and they shall be also regularly sanitised and disinfected.
And if they develop any symptoms, they will need to inform the district surveillance officer or the state/national call centre, according to the guidelines for domestic travel by air, train and inter-State bus travel.
