Amid rising COVID-19 cases, domestic flight services resume after two months

The very first of these flights took off from Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi today at 5 AM and landed in Pune at 6:42 AM.

Domestic flight services have resumed in India on Monday, after about two months of suspension due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-necessitated nationwide lockdown. According to sources, the very first of these flights took off from Terminal 3 of theIndira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi today at 5 AM and landed in Pune at 6:42 AM.

As other flights follow suit throughout the day, passengers are being screened using a thermometer gun before boarding the aircraft, while visuals showed Food & Beverage (F&B) and retail outlets opening at the IGI Airport as well.

Earlier, the central government had informed that domestic flight services will resumein India from May 25, while international flights are to start soon as well, as part of its gradual reboot of air travel services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

Confirming the development, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said, ''There's no contradiction between domestic flights beginning from May 25 and lockdown in India being imposed till May 31.''

Passengers have been advised to bring their boarding passes along with them. It has also been made mandatory for the air travellers to download the Aarogya Setu mobile app in their cellphones, which will help authorities determine if the concerned passengers are coming from a COVID-19 hotspot or not. If they do not have the app on their phones, passengers will have to sign an undertaking declaring that they are free from COVID-19 infection. Air travel staff will also assist passengers in downloading the app on the spot if it's not present on their phones.

A thermal gun will also be used to screen the passengers before entry into the flight.

Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in India crossed the 1.38 lakh-mark on Monday, while the death toll has topped the 4,000-mark as well.

Over the major part of the last week, the country marked significant and consecutive highest jumps in the COVID-19 tally.

Interestingly, even though the virus tally continues to spike, new guidelines issued by the central government pertaining to Lockdown 4.0 remain enforced. Several restrictions have been lifted, which includes permitting transport services, reopening of shops, and resuming online shopping. According to the central government's most recent order, all activities, except the ones "specifically prohibited", will be allowed in green, orange, red, and buffer zones, which continue to be classified by the States/UTs and district authorities.

It is now increasingly becoming likely that India, although well into the fourth phase of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-necessitated nationwide lockdown, is quickly becoming one of the biggest COVID-19 hotspots in the world.