UK Arrivals To Be Tested At Airport, Quarantined If COVID-19 +ve: Hardeep Singh Puri
Mumbai: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said that passengers from all transit flights from the UK scheduled to reach India before December 22 will be subjected to mandatory RT-PCR tests on arrival.
“Given the current situation in the UK, the Government of India has decided that all flights from the UK to India will be temporarily suspended by 31 December 2020 (11.59 pm). The suspension will begin at 11.59 pm, December 22, 2020,” the ministry announced.
“As a precaution, all transit flights from the UK (flights arriving or flying to India before 22 December) must have mandatory RT-PCR tests to arrive at the respective airports,” it added.
“Those found positive on arrival should be sent for institutional quarantine set up by state/UT govt, in collaboration with the states/UTs concerned. Those found negative should be advised to isolate at home for 7 days & will be medically monitored by the States/UTs,” he tweeted.
https://twitter.com/HardeepSPuri/status/1340965440730755072?s=20
https://twitter.com/HardeepSPuri/status/1340965445088673795?s=20
The decision has been made amid concerns over a new strain of coronavirus suspected to be more contagious, which forced at least five countries on Sunday to ban travel from the United Kingdom, considering several other similar restrictions.
The new coronavirus variants have prompted the UK government to implement a Tier 4 lockdown across the country and tighten restrictions across England, particularly during the festive season.
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India’s announcement on Monday came after a meeting called by the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) headed by the Director-General of Health Monitoring Services (DGHS) to assess the threat from the new version.
“We have imposed a 10-day suspension on flights to and from the UK after a thorough review by the government. We will reassess the suspension period as per the situation prevailing in the country later,” an aviation ministry official said.
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