Covid negative, distressed passengers exempted from institutional quarantine upon arrival in India

The government’s fresh guidelines for international passengers travelling into India have granted exemption from mandatory seven days of institutional quarantine upon arrival to people in situations of distress like death, serious illness, pregnancy or to parents with children under 10-years of age, according to a government notification posted by Air India on Sunday.

These people citing the compelling reasons mentioned above will need to undergo 14 days of home quarantine instead, however, they will be eligible for availing this exemption only if they apply 72 hours before boarding the aircraft on the online portal—www.new delhi airport.in, the release clarifies.

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The new guidelines also allow travelers to escape institutional quarantine provided they submitted a negative RT-PCR test upon arrival, which should not have been conducted more than 96 hours before the scheduled journey.

“The test report should be uploaded on the portal for consideration. Each passenger should also submit a declaration with respect to the authenticity of the report and will be liable for criminal prosecution, if found otherwise,” the guidelines state.

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According to the new notification, all travellers to India need to furnish a self declaration form on the above portal at least 72 hours before departure of their flight along with an undertaking to undergo seven days of paid institutional quarantine at their own cost followed by seven days of home quarantine with self monitoring.

The new guidelines, that will come into effect from August 8, also reiterate some other measures in force to prevent the spread of coronavirus during the journey including social distancing and wearing of masks during travel.

It says that those who fail to fill the self-declaration form before their travel will be given an opportunity to fill it on board the flight or ship, to be handed to immigration officials upon their arrival at destination. Additionally, they will also be given opportunity to fill the declaration online at the arriving airport/seaport/landport.