The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has announced a fresh set of guidelines for air travelers, entering India from abroad or traveling within India. These guidelines will be covering the submission of self-declaration form to the removal of home quarantine for five different passenger categories.
The Union Health Ministry, recently, got in a virtual meeting, discussing the basic aspects of those who are stuck out on international grounds. Many of the Indian citizens and fellow explorers were banned from international traveling, in and out of the country, during the pandemic.
Now, after months into the lockdown, the Ministry has concluded to refresh its guidelines to help the needy ones. To tackle this, the Indian administration has joined hands with various international airlines to form “Air Bubbles”, a safe air corridor where a particular number of flights will take off.
Under these Bilateral Air Bubbles, India will expect air flights in-between countries like the US, the UAE, France, and Germany under which airlines of both the countries are allowed to operate special international flights with certain restrictions. For such movements, a special guide has been made.
New and Refreshed Air Travel Guidelines For Traveling in India that You Must Know:
1. All travelers are needed to submit a Self-Declaration form online. This should be carried out at least 72 hours before the travel.
2. All the passengers are required to give an undertaking on the portal. Under this undertaking, all the travelers are required to go in 7-days institutional quarantine, at their own cost, followed by 7-days of home quarantine with self-monitoring of health.
3. The government has also considered five special cases for the home quarantine and has allowed them the freedom to be out of it. These will cover:
- Pregnant women.
- Parents with children below 10 years of age.
- Those who have submitted a “Negative COVID-19” certificate, 96 hours prior to their journey.
- Anyone who has suffered death in the family.
- One who is suffering from a serious illness.
4. To seek such removal of their quarantine, a person must inform the online Delhi Airport portal, 72 hours before the flight.
5. Every passenger has to submit a “Negative COVID-19” certificate that declares them to be negative during 3 weeks of their journey.
Dos and Don’ts
- Passengers have been asked to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile phones.
- Dos and Don’ts shall be provided along with the ticket to the travelers by the agencies concerned
- At the time of boarding the flight/ship, only asymptomatic travelers will be allowed to proceed after the thermal screening.
- Passengers entering from road borders will be required to follow the same guidelines as well.
During Travel
- Suitable precautionary measures including environmental sanitation and disinfection and social distracting are to be practiced and shall be ensured at the airports and during boarding.
- While onboard the flight or ship, it is mandatory to wear masks and maintenance of environmental hygiene, respiratory hygiene, hand hygiene, by airline/ship staff, crew, and all passengers.
On Arrival
- The de-boarding processes are to be done with social distancing.
- Every passenger will be checked with thermal screening.
- Passengers are required to show online or a physical copy of the Self-Declaration form.
- Any passenger who is found symptomatic will, immediately, be taken under an isolated Private or Government medical care facility.
- Post thermal screening, the passengers who have been exempted or removed from home quarantine will have to show the same documents to their state counters.
- In case any symptoms develop, they shall inform the district surveillance officer or the state/national call center (1075).
Guidelines For Traveling Via Domestic Flights
- You need to get an e-pass for entering another state from that state’s particular e-pass portal.
- The person needs to be quarantined for a fixed amount of time which differs from state to state.
- Any passenger with symptoms of COVID-19 would be immediately shifted to COVID Care centers.
- Proper protective gear including gloves, mask, face shield, and a carry-on sanitizer bottle is a must-have.
- No food would be served on the flights.
There are several other guidelines for domestic flight travel or for traveling in India as well but as the situation is getting lighter they are changing as well. But these rules have been sticking since the start and might stick a while even after the lockdown eases.
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