Hundreds of passengers from UK sent to 10-day quarantine at New Delhi airport

About 700 passengers travelling from UK to New Delhi were sent to 10-day mandatory quarantine after landing at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday. The passengers were sent to quarantine post RT-PCR test at the airport. The step to send passengers to quarantine has been taken in accordance with Indian Government's stance of 'reciprocal measures' for UK nationals.

The new visa conditions have been implemented from Sunday midnight onwards. A senior government official confirmed that a total of three flights from the UK arrived at IGI airport till Monday afternoon that carried around 700 passengers, including UK nationals. As per the new rules, all passengers have to undergo a compulsory RT-PCR test followed by a 10-days quarantine at home or the destination address.

"A team of Delhi government is deployed at the airport to carry out the process. They are completing the formalities like getting the address of the passenger where he/she will be staying during their arrival in Delhi. Another team will be checking if the person is adhering to the quarantine rules or not," said the official.

He added that all preparations were done to avoid any inconvenience to the passengers, especially to UK citizens. As per the new rules, all UK nationals flying into the country will have to undertake an RT-PCR test 72 hours prior to their departure, irrespective of their vaccination status.

They will also be required to take a Covid-19 test on arrival and ten days of quarantine period after landing. India has already withdrawn the e-visas facility to the UK and Canadian nationals. They have to apply for a regular stamp visa to visit India. The steps were taken after these countries have posed restrictions on the entry of Indian nationals.

(With inputs from agencies)