New Delhi
The Indian government has said it will test travellers from Brazil, South Africa and the UK after detecting new virus strains.
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"All the travellers arriving from/transiting through flights originating in United Kingdom, Europe or the Middle East shall be mandatorily subjected to self-paid confirmatory molecular tests on arrival," the Indian government said in a statement.
We are taking all precautions & continue undaunted with our efforts against COVID19.
New SOPs will be in effect for International Passengers arriving in India from 23:59 hrs on 22 Feb 2021...@PMOIndia @HMOIndia @MoHFW_INDIA @MoCA_GoI @MEAIndia @AAI_Official @DGCAIndia pic.twitter.com/sVM3D0pBPQ
â Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) February 17, 2021
India has reported 187 cases of UK variant of coronavirus so far.
"All passengers arriving from UK, Europe and the Middle East shall carry negative RT-PCR test report for which test should have been conducted within 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey," India's civil aviation ministry announced.
Attention Passengers!
To reduce the risk of importation of mutant strains of SARS-CoV-2, SOP for International Passengers arriving in India have been updated in supersession of all guidelines on the subject since 2 Aug20. The new SOP will be in effect on 23:59 hrs on 22nd Feb,21 pic.twitter.com/YoGFkitP2t
â MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) February 17, 2021
"Airlines should identify the international travellers arriving from and transiting through UK, Brazil and South Africa during the past 14 days and segregate them in-flight or while disembarking to facilitate the authorities to follow COVID-19 protocol," it said.
"All the travellers arriving from and transiting through flights originating in the UK, Europe or the Middle East shall be mandatorily be subjected to self-paid confirmatory molecular tests on arrival at the Indian airport's concerned point of the entry," the ministry added.
"We are taking all precautions and continue undaunted with our efforts against COVID19," India's civil aviation minister said.
According to the government, the new SOPs will come into effect for international passengers arriving in India from 23:59 hrs on 22 Feb 2021.