Over 45K applications for quarantine exemption received through IGIA portal

New Delhi: Approximately 45,288 applications from international passengers arriving into the Delhi International Airport have been submitted to the airport's online portal for exemption from institutional quarantine, according to data made public by the operator DIAL on Wednesday. A majority of the applications were approved in a timely manner," the DIAL noted.

The government had said last month that from August 8, if any arriving international passenger has a negative report from an RT-PCR test done 96 hours prior to the journey, he or she need not undergo institutional quarantine in India. Delhi airport had launched an online portal for this purpose.

The "Air Suvidha" portal received the highest number of quarantine exemption applications from the United States (15,027), UAE (4,512), UK (4,094), Canada (3,416) and Australia (2,687) till now, the DIAL noted.

As per the health ministry rules, incoming international passengers need to undergo seven-day institutional quarantine followed by seven-day home quarantine in India.

The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) had launched the portal on August 8 so that arriving international passengers can fill mandatory self-declaration forms and eligible passengers can apply for exemption from compulsory institutional quarantine.

Moreover, every passenger has to submit a self-declaration form that they have not tested positive for COVID-19 three weeks prior to the flight, as per the rules.

Over 78,700 international passengers submitted their self-declaration form through the portal, the DIAL said in a press release. It added that 77 out of over 78,700 flyers were found to be symptomatic and were escorted to the Airport Health Organisation (APHO) for "necessary assistance and support".