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Health ministry has issued fresh guidelines for International travel which will be applicable from August 8. The rules include pre-boarding, during travel and after travel restrictions upon arrival.

In what comes as a recent update, the health ministry has issued fresh guidelines for international passengers coming to India. The previous guidelines were issued on May 24. These new guidelines come as an update to the existing ones. These new guidelines were issued on Sunday, August 2 by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Guidelines to follow before travel:

• All passengers must submit a self declaration form online at www.newdelhiairport.in at least 72 hours before their travel commences.
• Travelers must also give an undertaking on the same portal that they would be in mandatory isolation for 14 days. The quarantine includes 7 days of paid
• institutional isolation for travelers at their own cost and 7 days of home quarantine with self monitoring of health.
• Institutional quarantine will be exempted only in the cases of pregnancy, travelers with ailments or travelers who are coming in case of a death of family member. However, they should be under home quarantine for 14 days.
• If anyone wants to seek exemption under the above categories, they must before-hand seek the exemption through the same online portal.
• The decision taken by the Indian government on the matter will be final.
• Travelers can also seek exemption from institutional quarantine by submitting negative RT-PCR report on the portal.
• The test must be conducted 96 hours before the journey.
• Each passenger must submit a declaration of the test report and if proven otherwise would have to face criminal prosecution.
• The test report can also be produced upon arrival at the entry gates of the airports.

Guidelines to follow before boarding:

• Do’s and Don’ts at the airport shall be provided by the respective agencies along with the air tickets.
• All passengers must have Arogya Setu app installed on their mobile phones.
• Only asymptomatic patients will be allowed to board the flight upon thermal screening.
• Passengers arriving through land borders must also follow the same rules and only asymptomatic patients will be allowed to cross the border.
• Precautionary measures like sanitization and disinfection of the airports will be done in the airports daily.
• During boarding at the airports, all social distancing measures will be ensured by the airport authorities.

Guidelines to follow during travel:

• Travelers who had not filled the self declaration form online will be given a duplicate form by immigration officials.
• Suitable announcements related to COVID-19 precautionary measures will be given during the journey.
• While on board, self hygiene measures like wearing masks, hand hygiene, and respiratory hygiene would be checked by the airline staff.

Guidelines to follow upon arrival:

• Passengers must de board the flight ensuring social distancing.
• Thermal screening would be conducted and self declaration form would be checked by the health officials.
• Passengers who were found to be symptomatic shall be immediately sent into isolation to a medical facility.
• After thermal, passengers who have the exemption form must show it to the authorities, either soft or hard copy at the counters.
• Passengers shall be kept under institutional quarantine for 7 days and shall be tested as per ICMR protocol.
• Asymptomatic patients shall be sent for home isolation for 7 days.
• Passengers with mild symptoms shall be sent to medical care facilities for treatment and would be managed accordingly.

By Gayatri Yellayi