Govt revises rules: COVID-positive foreign travellers can quarantine at home

The government has cancelled the requirement for travellers from any country arriving in India, who test COVID positive, to mandatorily be managed at an isolation facility.

From Saturday, such travellers have to quarantine themselves at home according to protocols.

In revised ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’ released on Thursday and effective from Saturday, the government has said that foreign arrivals who test positive will still have to undergo home quarantine for seven days even after they test negative, and undertake an RT-PCR test on the eighth day of arrival in India.

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Earlier, the norm was that travellers coming from any country, including those considered ‘at-risk’, would be managed at an isolation facility and treated according to the standard protocols, the government said. In the revised guidelines, this clause that mandated staying at an ‘isolation facility’ upon arrival, has been removed.

The government said passengers found to be symptomatic during screening will be immediately isolated and taken to a medical facility. If positive, their contacts shall be identified and managed according to norms, it said.