Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited the Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport’s screening and Covid testing facility on Monday, amid an increase in coronavirus cases in some countries, including China.
The government has made random Covid tests mandatory for 2% of all passengers arriving on international flights, regardless of port of departure. Passengers arriving in India from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand are also being.
The test must be performed within 72 hours of departing for India, and the negative RT-PCR test report must be uploaded to the Air Suvidha portal prior to departure.
This will also apply to passengers transiting through the six countries before arriving at any Indian airport, according to Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in a letter to his Civil Aviation Ministry counterpart Rajiv Bansal on Monday.
“As a result, the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Air Suvidha Portal must be made operational for passengers on all international flights departing from these countries, with a provision to allow international travellers arriving in India to submit negative RT-PCR test reports as well as a self-declaration form on this portal,” he wrote in the letter.
“This arrangement is in effect as of 10 a.m. on Sunday, January 1, 2023,” the letter stated.
Mandaviya said in a tweet on Monday, “Reviewed Air Suvidha system and RT-PCR testing facilities for international passengers at IGI Airport, New Delhi.”
“Passengers arriving from six high-risk countries are now mandatorily required to upload their negative RT-PCR test reports in the Air Suvidha portal within 72 hours of undertaking their journey to India while travellers from other countries are being randomly tested at the airports upon their arrival in India.
“This is being done to ensure that genome sequencing of any positive case is done as soon as possible in order to understand the strength and behaviour of any new variants,” stated the Union Health Minister.
Mandaviya emphasised the importance of remaining vigilant against emerging COVID-19 strains, citing the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and the United States.
He urged people to follow Covid guidelines and get vaccinated, and said the Centre was taking all necessary steps to ensure effective preparation and management of the emerging COVID-19 scenario.
In response to an increase in coronavirus cases in some countries, the government has issued an alert, tightened Covid guidelines, and asked states and union territories to be prepared for any eventuality.
