BENGALURU: In fresh guidelines for international travellers, issued on Thursday, the Union Government has said there will no longer be compulsory Covid-19 testing at airports, and only random testing will be done on 2 percent of the passengers.
However, a RT-PCR negative report within 72 hours will be necessary. Passengers who are Covid-19-negative will not be quarantined. The guidelines will be effective from February 14 and will be implemented at airports, seaports and land borders in the state.
The self-declaration form will still need to be filled on the Air Suvidha portal and a negative Covid-19 report taken before 72 hours should also be uploaded. At the time of boarding, only asymptomatic travellers will be allowed after thermal screening. The thermal screening will be repeated on arrival at the airport.
“Passengers found to be symptomatic during screening shall be isolated. If positive, their contacts will be identified and managed as per protocol. The samples of travellers who test positive in random testing shall be sent for genomic sequencing,” the circular said.
Travellers from countries that exempt fully vaccinated Indian citizens from quarantine will also be given relaxation of quarantine rules in India, provided they have the complete primary vaccination certificate.