India to drop pre-departure Covid exams for travellers from China, different nations

By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: India will drop the necessity for pre-departure Covid-19 exams and the importing of the Air Suvidha type for worldwide passengers from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and Japan. But random testing of two % of all worldwide travellers on the airports will proceed.

The new tips for worldwide arrivals will come into apply from 11am Monday.

The determination to drop the present necessities of pre-departure Covid-19 testing and importing of Air Suvidha type from passengers travelling from these hotspot nations was taken after they witnessed a “sustained and significant decline in the trajectory of Covid-19 cases in the last four weeks.”

In a letter to the Secretary of Aviation, the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan mentioned, “Ministry is updating its ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’, and dropping the existing requirements of pre-departure COVID-19 testing and uploading of Self-Health Declaration on the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s ‘Air Suvidha’ portal applicable for international travellers coming from/via China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan.”

“Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a part of its proactive yet graded public health response to COVID-19 management has been updating ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’ from time to time. In the last update, based on the increasing trajectory of COVID-19 and circulation of mutant variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in some countries, the Ministry had mandated requirements of pre-departure COVID-19 testing and uploading of Self-Health Declaration on the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s ‘Air Suvidha’ Portal,” the letter mentioned.

ALSO READ | Covid -19 nonetheless a world well being emergency, however in transition level: WHO

The well being secretary additionally mentioned that as per the World Health Organization’s newest situational replace on Covid-19, a decline of 89 % within the variety of newly confirmed instances up to now 28 days has been famous globally as in comparison with 28 days previous to that.

“Meanwhile, India has continued to witness a declining trajectory, with lower than 100 new instances/day being reported,” the letter mentioned.

However, 2 per cent random testing will proceed “in order to monitor infections due to mutated variants of SARS-CoV-2 among international travellers to India, the present exercise of random testing of 2 per cent travellers to India (irrespective of country of origin) upon arrival in India shall continue.”

On December 29, the ministry had introduced obligatory pre-departure testing and importing of adverse Covid-19 RT-PCR check reviews and self-health declaration kinds on the Air Suvidha portal for travellers coming from these hotspotcountries. The step was taken in view of a surge in Covid instances in some nations, together with neighbouring China.

NEW DELHI: India will drop the necessity for pre-departure Covid-19 exams and the importing of the Air Suvidha type for worldwide passengers from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and Japan. But random testing of two % of all worldwide travellers on the airports will proceed.

The new tips for worldwide arrivals will come into apply from 11am Monday.

The determination to drop the present necessities of pre-departure Covid-19 testing and importing of Air Suvidha type from passengers travelling from these hotspot nations was taken after they witnessed a “sustained and significant decline in the trajectory of Covid-19 cases in the last four weeks.”

In a letter to the Secretary of Aviation, the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan mentioned, “Ministry is updating its ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’, and dropping the existing requirements of pre-departure COVID-19 testing and uploading of Self-Health Declaration on the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s ‘Air Suvidha’ portal applicable for international travellers coming from/via China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan.”

“Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a part of its proactive yet graded public health response to COVID-19 management has been updating ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’ from time to time. In the last update, based on the increasing trajectory of COVID-19 and circulation of mutant variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in some countries, the Ministry had mandated requirements of pre-departure COVID-19 testing and uploading of Self-Health Declaration on the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s ‘Air Suvidha’ Portal,” the letter mentioned.

ALSO READ | Covid -19 nonetheless a world well being emergency, however in transition level: WHO

The well being secretary additionally mentioned that as per the World Health Organization’s newest situational replace on Covid-19, a decline of 89 % within the variety of newly confirmed instances up to now 28 days has been famous globally as in comparison with 28 days previous to that.

“Meanwhile, India has continued to witness a declining trajectory, with lower than 100 new instances/day being reported,” the letter mentioned.

However, 2 per cent random testing will proceed “in order to monitor infections due to mutated variants of SARS-CoV-2 among international travellers to India, the present exercise of random testing of 2 per cent travellers to India (irrespective of country of origin) upon arrival in India shall continue.”

On December 29, the ministry had introduced obligatory pre-departure testing and importing of adverse Covid-19 RT-PCR check reviews and self-health declaration kinds on the Air Suvidha portal for travellers coming from these hotspotcountries. The step was taken in view of a surge in Covid instances in some nations, together with neighbouring China.