Norms for foreign arrivals: 14-day quarantine, Aarogya Setu app

The guidelines do not mention mandatory quarantine unlike for international travellers—they say states can develop their own protocol on quarantine and isolation as per their assessment.

In a sign that India may be ready to start international flights soon, the Ministry of Health on Sunday released guidelines for international travellers which include “mandatory quarantine for 14 days” on arrival. Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said last week that the aim was to start international flights before August.

Guidelines were also issued for domestic travel — by bus, train or air.

While Puri had on Saturday said domestic air travellers – domestic flights are set to resume operations on Monday – don’t have to undergo quarantine as long as they have the Aarogya Setu app, the guidelines for international travel say, “Before boarding, all travellers shall give an undertaking that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days — 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitoring of health. Only for exceptional and compelling reasons such as cases of human distress, pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parent(s) accompanied by children below 10 years, as assessed by the receiving states, home quarantine may be permitted for 14 days. Use of Aarogya Setu app shall be mandatory in such cases.”

Though the quarantine rules have been spelt out, the guidelines go on to say states can up with their own protocol for quarantine and isolation “as per their assessment”.

The earlier, pre-lockdown guidelines for those flying in from abroad mentioned institutional quarantine for 14 days, not home quarantine.

The guidelines for international travellers said only those who are asymptomatic will be allowed to board their flights, after they clear thermal screening. On arrival in India, if they are judged to be patients, they will be tested and sent to designated hospitals.

On testing the passengers, the protocol remains the same as that issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research on May 18 – only patients with influenza like illness (ILI) will be tested.

For those without symptoms, after seven days of institutional quarantine, if there are still asymptomatic, the travellers can go in for home quarantine, clarified Health Ministry officials.

Puri’s remark on Saturday at a Facebook Live session – that there was no need for states to quarantine incoming domestic air travellers if passengers had Aarogya Setu on their phones – had been met with resistance from states such as Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra. On Sunday, more states said they would quarantine domestic air travellers who land in their states.

Guidelines for domestic travellers — by bus, train or air — lay down that all passengers should be “advised” to download Aarogya Setu on their mobiles.

“The States/UTs shall ensure that all passengers shall undergo thermal screening at the point of departure and only asymptomatic passengers are allowed to board the flight/train/bus. During boarding and travel, all passengers shall use face covers/mask. They will also follow hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene and maintain environmental hygiene. At airports/railway stations/bus terminals required measures to ensure social distancing shall be taken. Airports/railway stations/bus terminals should be regularly sanitized/disinfected and availability of soaps and sanitizers shall be ensured. Thermal screening at exit point shall be arranged,” say the guidelines.

The guidelines do not mention mandatory quarantine unlike for international travellers – they say states can develop their own protocol on quarantine and isolation as per their assessment.

The total number of cases in the country went up to 1,31,868, with 6,767 fresh cases added in the last 24 hours. The Covid toll so far is 3,667, with 147 deaths in the last 24 hours. A total of 54,440 people has recovered so far, 2,657 of them in the last 24 hours.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday visited Chaudhary Brahma Prakash Ayurved Charak Sansthan, an ayurveda hospital in Delhi, which is functioning as a dedicated COVID health centre.