The pre-departure RT-PCR tests which were mandatory for travellers from six countries – China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and Japan – will be dropped from Monday, the government announced, as Covid-19 infections have fallen sharply globally.
The Centre has also removed the rule to upload the ‘Air Suvidha’ form for passengers from these six countries. However, the random testing of 2 per cent of all travellers landing in India, irrespective of the source country, will continue, the health ministry wrote in the letter dated February 9. The random tests were started again from December 24, after being halted in November, due to the escalating Covid situation in China and neighbouring countries.
In a letter to civil aviation secretary Rajiv Bansal, union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote that the current mandate of pre-departure Covid-19 testing, taken not more than 72 hours before the journey, and self-health declaration on ‘Air Suvidha’ for international arrivals from six countries was being changed in lieu of the downward spiral of Covid-19 cases.
The updated guidelines will come into effect from 11 am on Monday, February 13.
The restrictions have been lifted as Covid cases sharply declined across the world. According to the World Health Organization’s data, the last 28 days saw a dip of 89 per cent in new infections compared to the numbers reported in the previous 28 days, as per a Hindustan Times report.
Furthermore, Wu Zunyou, Chief epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, recently stated that there is scant chance of China having to battle a fresh Covid wave on a large scale in the near future, as per the report.
India, too, has continued to report a decline in cases with less than 100 being recorded daily. As per Health Ministry data on Sunday, 124 new Covid-19 cases were recorded while the active infection numbers rose to 1,843.
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