By Online Desk
All international passengers entering India will be required to undertake a mandatory 7-day quarantine upon arrival in the country, a health ministry notification said on Friday.
The announcement comes amid a sharp spike in cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19 across many cities in the past few days.
Flyers from specified countries at risk will have to submit samples for Covid testing on arrival. They will be allowed to leave the airport premises only after their test results are in, according to new rules.
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Meanwhile, Kerala decided to impose a week’s compulsory home quarantine on all those arriving from abroad in view of the surge in coronavirus and Omicron cases.
State Health Minister Veena George said so far 280 Omicron cases have been registered in the state and the maximum number of cases was reported from those who arrived from low-risk countries.
On Thursday, 4,649 new Covid cases were registered, which was a recent high figure. In tune with the national guidelines, George said from now on all passengers arriving from abroad have to undergo mandatory quarantine for a week at their homes.
“On the 8th day, they will undergo an RT-PCR test and if negative, they will continue in isolation for a week. The positive samples will be sent for genome sequencing,” said George.