India Updates List Of ‘at risk’ Countries

New Delhi, Jan 7: As the Centre on Friday issued a revised guideline for all international passengers arriving in the country amid the ongoing Omicron surge, it has also updated the list of countries which India considers are at greater risk.

People coming from these countries are subject to stricter restrictions. The listing is a dynamic exercise based on the evolving situation of Covid-19 across the world, a ministry official said. Countries in Europe including- The United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, Israel, Congo, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia and Zambia.

 

The Centre started listing some countries as risky as Omicron was reported in South Africa in November 2021. As a precautionary measure, the Centre identified some countries which at that time got affected by Omicron to a medium extent as risky so that people coming from those countries are monitored, instead of imposing a complete ban on flights from these countries.

Travelers coming from these countries have to submit their samples for the post-arrival Covid-19 test as they arrive in India. The test is a self-paid one. They will have to wait for the test results to come. If they test negative, they will be under home isolation for 7 days and will take an RT-PCR test on the 8th day. If they test negative again, they will monitor themselves for the next 7 days.

If they test positive at the airport or after seven days, they will be sent to the isolation facility. Their contacts will also be isolated and monitored.

States complained of several difficulties in tracking international passengers as many of them in the past gave wrong phone numbers, incomplete addresses to the authorities. Delhi, West Bengal had raised the demand of banning flights from some countries when the Omicron outbreak started. West Bengal has also banned direct flights from the United Kingdom.