Covid-19: No quarantine for select Middle East passengers arriving in Maharashtra

Mumbai - The procedures follow the emergence of a new Covid-19 strain detected in the UK.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport has announced a fresh set of guidelines for all incoming/outgoing international passengers against the backdrop of the new Covid-19 virus strain detected in the UK, it was announced on Tuesday.

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai later provided the following exemptions in a release.

It said that ‘passengers arriving by international flights from the Middle East and European countries landing at Mumbai International Airport after 23:59 hours on December 22 (Tuesday), shall comply with the following conditions:

a) If the passenger is landing in Mumbai from any of these flights as a transit passenger and the final destination is outside of Maharashtra, they shall be allowed to proceed only if they have a RT-PCR test conducted within 72 hours of boarding the flight and these results are found to be negative.

b) If the transit passenger does not have the RT-PCR test report as negative, the passenger may undergo the RT-PCR test at the airport itself. Only after the results are received as negative, he/she will be allowed to proceed to the final destination.

c) The list of transit passengers shall be prepared by the airport operator and communicated to the Nodal Officer and Chief Secretary of the destination State for further necessary action.

d) If the RT-PCR result turns out to be positive, the passenger shall be admitted into the MCGM hospital as per the standard protocol.

e) The passenger shall transit through domestic air transit only.

f) The passengers allowed to transit to the final destination out of Maharashtra shall be stamped on a hand as ‘Transit Passenger from Europe/Middle East’.

Also read: New Covid strain: Air India offers passengers change of date for Saudi, Oman travel

New Covid strain: India sets new procedures for passengers from UK

As announced on Monday, all flights to and from the UK remain suspended from December 22-31 midnight.

Nevertheless, on Monday, the CSMIA handled four flights, three from London and one from Amsterdam carrying over 690 passengers, and all the passengers have been quarantined.

However, there are no flights from London scheduled on Tuesday, though five incoming and eight outgoing flights to Dubai, besides one for Doha.

The CSMIA has implemented compulsory institutional quarantine for all passengers arriving from the Gulf region and European countries, irrespective of their further travel plans.

Those found symptomatic on arrival shall be sent to designated Covid facilities for further evaluation.

The government will make arrangements to transport them to nearby hotels of their preference or institutional quarantine for 7 days at their own costs.

Instead of undergoing a Covid-19 test at the airport, the passengers shall be subjected to the RT-PCR tests during the 5th-7th days of the institutional quarantine at their own cost.

Passengers whose reports test positive will continue to be quarantined at the same venue or in a designated facility for 14 days, while those showing a negative test report will be discharged but will need to observe another 7 days home quarantine.

Preparing for the night curfew 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting from December 22 till January 5, 2021, passengers travelling to and from the airport during the specified hours shall be allowed to travel by taxies or public transportation.

The CSMIA has also enforced other necessary precautions for the safety of passengers and the airport personnel.

This includes the provision of PPE kits to all staff working at the airport, other stakeholders such as immigration, besides following stringent safety measures in the wake of the pandemic and the latest protocols.

• India
• Gulf