India is planning to reintroduce a mandatory COVID-19 negative test report for passengers arriving from countries with high number of cases, the country’s health minister said during an interview with broadcaster NewsX on Friday, Reuters reported.
The move follows a spurt in Covid-19 cases globally in recent weeks.
“In the next one week, selected countries will be identified where the caseload is higher today,” minister Mansukh Mandaviya said. “People from there who come to India will have to upload their (COVID-19) RT-PCR reports and only then come.”
Passengers will have to upload their reports on a government website and undergo thermal screening upon landing, India’s Mandaviya said.
According to the report, India will also begin random testing of 2 percent of international passengers arriving at its airports for COVID-19 from Saturday, December 24, Mandaviya told the parliament on Thursday.
According to officials, guidelines for passengers travelling to the country has been revised and issued.
The move followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairing a high-level meeting on Friday to assess the Covid-19 situation in the country.
“The meeting reviewed the preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, status of the vaccination campaign in the country, the emergence of new Covid-19 variants and their public health implications for the country,” an official readout of the meeting said.
“This high-level review meeting comes in the backdrop of a spike in Covid-19 cases in some countries.”
Modi reiterated that the pandemic is not over yet and directed officials to strengthen the ongoing surveillance measures, especially at international airports.
“The Prime Minister cautioned against complacency and advised strict vigil,” the readout added.
Meanwhile, one of India’s biggest tourist attractions, the Taj Mahal, will now demand that visitors produce a negative RT-PCR test result before they enter the mausoleum complex.
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