COVID-19: 7-day home quarantine for all international arrivals in India

Dubai: All international passengers will now have to home quarantine for a week on arrival in India, the government said on Friday as it revised travel guidelines.

India’s daily COVID-19 cases crossed 140,000 on Saturday, a six-fold increase in a week and on course to overtake its previous infection peak as the fast-spreading Omicron variant replaces Delta in cities.

Travellers from all countries will undergo home quarantine for seven days and will have to take RT-PCR test on the 8th day of arrival in India.

Travellers shall also be required to upload results of repeat RT-PCR test for COVID-19 done on the 8th day on Air Suvidha portal, the revised guidelines said.

If negative, they will further self-monitor their health for the next seven days, the ministry said.

However, if such travellers are tested positive, their samples should be further sent for genomic testing at INSACOG laboratory network.

Entry through sea and land port

International travellers arriving through seaports/land ports will also have to undergo the same protocol as above, except that facility for online registration is not available for such passengers currently. Such travellers shall submit the self-declaration form to the concerned authorities of the Government of India at seaports/land ports on arrival.

Travellers from specified countries at risk will have to submit samples for COVID-19 testing at the point of arrival. They will be allowed to leave the airport premises only after their test results are in, according to the new rules issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Children under five years of age are exempted from both pre and post-arrival testing. However, if found symptomatic for COVID-19 on arrival or during the home quarantine period, they shall undergo testing and treated as per laid down protocol.

As per the Health ministry, the global trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to decline with certain regional variations. The need to monitor the continuously changing nature of the virus and the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) must still remain in focus. The existing guidelines for international arrivals in India have been formulated taking a risk-based approach. The existing guidelines have been revised in view of reporting of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 (B.1.1.529; named Omicron) which has been classified as a Variant of Concern by the World Health Organisation.

Daily cases expected to surge

As cases rise in India, government officials have privately said they are working under the assumption that daily infections will surpass the record of more than 414,000 set in May, given what has happened in countries, such as the United States where daily cases have risen past 1 million.

"We will clearly surpass our record shortly and reach a new peak by early February," M.D. Gupte, a former director of the state-run National Institute of Epidemiology and an immunisation adviser to the government, told Reuters.

"Given the size of our population, we will report more daily cases than the US. But what we have seen is that these cases are much more mild, so the need for hospitalisation and oxygen and all that is not picking up." He said India's high rate of infection during a previous major wave in April and May, as well as vaccinations, would mean a reduction in the severity of the illness for those infected by the Omicron variant.

No pressure yet on hospitals

Health officials in the capital New Delhi and the state of Maharashtra, home to the city of Mumbai, which together account for the bulk of new cases, have said hospitals and testing infrastructure have yet to come under pressure as many people are recovering quickly at home.

In Mumbai, about a quarter of all tests are positive but fewer than a fifth of those who have contracted the virus have needed hospitalisation, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope told reporters.

The city recorded 20,181 new infections on Thursday, well above its previous high of just over 11,000 set last year.

"Around 80% of the hospital beds are still empty," he said.

"Oxygen demand is not rising in proportion to the rising cases.

Right now, there is no plan to impose a lockdown. If required, we may increase restrictions." The state has closed schools and colleges and limited the number of people allowed in cinemas, at weddings and other functions.

Delhi, where daily cases have risen by more than five times in a week, goes into a 55-hour lockdown from Friday night to Monday morning.

Authorities have also imposed a night curfew on weekdays, closed schools, and ordered most shops to open only on alternate days when there is no curfew.

India's COVID-19 deaths rose by 302 on Friday, taking the total to 483,178. Total infections stand at 35.23 million, fewer than the U.S. tally of about 58 million.

- with inputs from Reuters