Omicron variant: Centre imposes new rules for arrivals from 'at risk' countries

New Delhi: The Centre on Sunday said that those arriving from abroad will now have to upload their 14-day travel history and valid negative RT-PCR test reports on the Air Suvidha portal before embarking on their journey to India amid threats of Covid's Omicron variant looming large.

The RT-PCR test report should not be more than 72 hours old. The Centre in its order also maintained that passengers travelling from countries that are categorised as 'at risk' will have to undergo testing on arrival. If the passengers test positive, their samples will be sent to INSACOG for genomic sequencing and they will be sent to institutional quarantine. If they test negative, they will be asked to remain in home quarantine for seven days following which they will take a test on the 8th day and continue monitoring their health for the next seven days.

The Centre also added that 5 percent of the passengers not travelling from the at-risk nations will also be subjected to random testing. The tests for passengers from 'at risk' nations will be self-paid while the cost of the random tests will be borne by the Civil Aviation ministry. 

The new, and potentially more contagious variant, was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 24. It has since been identified in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel among other countries.

On Friday, it was designated a 'Variant of Concern' by the WHO, which named it Omicron. A 'Variant of Concern' is the WHO's top category of worrying Covid-19 strain.

The Centre on Thursday asked all states and union territories to conduct rigorous screening and testing of all international travellers coming from or transiting through South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana.

In a letter to the additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary/Secretary (Health) of all states and Union Territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan asked them to ensure that samples of travellers turning positive are sent to the designated genome sequencing laboratories promptly.