India Relaxes COVID Guidelines For International Arrivals At Airports

India updated its international passenger COVID-19 travel guidelines today. According to the amended guidelines, the 14-day statutory quarantine has been eliminated in favour of a self-monitoring period for overseas passengers. For the next 14 days following their arrival, all travellers will have to self-monitor their health. If travellers who are self-monitoring their health develop signs and symptoms consistent with COVID-19, they should self-isolate and report to their nearest health institution or call the national hotline number/state helpline number.

Key Highlights of COVID-19 Travel Guidelines to India

International passengers arriving at seaports/land ports will be subjected to the identical procedures as those described above, with the exception that online registration is not yet possible for such passengers. On arrival, such travellers must submit the self-declaration form to the Indian government’s responsible officials at seaports/land ports. All overseas travellers will be subjected to thermal screening by health experts stationed at the airport. The online self-declaration form must be shown to the airport health officials. International travellers who are found to be symptomatic during screening will be segregated and transported to a medical facility in accordance with health procedures. If they are positive, their contacts will be identified and addressed according to policy. A subset of the passengers (2% of the total) will be subjected to random post-arrival testing on arrival at the airport. The airlines in charge of each trip will identify such passengers (preferably from different countries). They will submit the samples and be released from the airport. If such travellers test positive, their samples should be transferred to the INSACOG laboratory network for genomic testing. They will be treated/isolated in accordance with the established standard protocol. Before boarding a journey to India, passengers must fill out a self-declaration form on the online Air Suvidha portal with complete and accurate information, including the latest 14 days’ travel details. Take a printout of the completed online form to show at the airport as well. Upload a COVID-19 RT-PCR data that is negative or a comprehensive vaccination certificate. The test should have been completed within 72 hours of leaving for the trip.