Recently, India updated its COVID-19 travel guidelines for passengers arriving in India. According to Air India Express, pre-departure RT-PCR tests are no longer required for fully vaccinated travellers. However, this new rule is only applicable to travellers who have received their COVID-19 vaccine doses in India.
On February 10, updated guidelines for international arrivals were issued by India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), which removed the requirement for a 7-day quarantine as well as re-test requirements on Day 8 of arrival in India.
If you have received your COVID-19 vaccination in the UAE, you still have to undergo an RT PCR test. These are the following guidelines for UAE residents travelling to India.
Before you travel
As per MOHFW guidelines, before you start your trip, you need to fulfill the following requirements:
a. Fill out the Air Suvidha Self Declaration form, which includes details of the last 14 days of travel and your COVID-19 related health details. The form can be accessed here: https://www.newdelhiairport.in/airsuvidha/apho-registration
b. Upload a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR (Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) report, with the test taken within 72 hours of your flight departure time (This requirement does not include children under the age of five years, who are exempt from pre- and post-arrival testing).
Passengers also need to ensure that the information they submit to the authorities, regarding their health and travel history, is accurate and also give an undertaking that they will abide by the decision of the appropriate government authority regarding any post-arrival requirement to undergo home or institutional quarantine or self-health monitoring.
Before boarding
Airlines have been advised to inform travellers of the dos and don’ts to follow, related to COVID-19 precautions, and to ensure that only asymptomatic patients are allowed to board.
Airlines also need to ensure that during the trip, all precautionary measures are adhered to.
On arrival
You will need to present the filled out Self-Declaration form to the airport health staff after landing.
Airports will conduct thermal screening of all passengers and those found to be symptomatic will be immediately isolated and taken to a medical facility as per the health protocol. If they test positive, their contacts will be identified and managed, as per protocol.
Also, two per cent of the total passengers in the flight will undergo random post-arrival testing at the airport. This does not include children under the age of five years, who are exempt from pre- and post-arrival testing.
These travellers will be identified by the concerned airlines and should preferably be from different countries, according to the guidelines.
Once they submit the samples, they will be allowed to leave the airport. However, if the test result is positive, they will need to be isolated and receive treatment as per standard protocol and the test samples will be sent genomic testing at an Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) laboratory.
All travellers will self-monitor their health for 14 days after arrival.
If travellers develop signs and symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, they have been asked to immediately self-isolate and report to their nearest health facility or call the National helpline number (1075) or their State’s helpline number.
