Many States are simply following the Union Health Ministry’s guidelines for arriving air passengers, but Karnataka will require travellers boarding from such “high-risk States” as Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to undergo seven days of institutional quarantine on arrival in Bengaluru.
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As air travel resumes in the country on Monday, passengers will be tested for COVID-19 from the fifth to seventh day of arrival, a Karnataka official said. If they test negative, these passengers will be asked to follow seven days of home quarantine. However, exemptions have been given to pregnant women, children below 10 and others. Asymptomatic passengers arriving from other States will be asked to follow 14 days of home quarantine.
In Kerala, flyers will undergo thermal screening once they exit the aircraft. Those found asymptomatic will be subjected to home quarantine for 14 days. Those found symptomatic will be rushed from airports to a COVID-19 care centre or hospital.
Also read: With around 380 domestic flights, Delhi airport to resume operations from Monday
Gujarat will not require quarantine for asymptomatic passengers . “We are following the government of India’s protocols for domestic travellers departing from or arriving at airports in Gujarat,” Secretary (Civil Aviation) Mamta Verma said.
In north India, Delhi, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, too, will follow the Health Ministry’s guidelines. Telangana said it was examining the guidelines, but would continue with its protocols for rail and inter-State bus services. “People arriving at airports will be screened and those without any symptoms will be allowed to go after they fulfil conditions,” a senior official said
Andhra Pradesh is set to test all incoming air passengers. Health Department officials said samples would be taken from all incoming flyers upon their arrival and asymptomatic persons would be advised home quarantine. Symptomatic passengers would have to go through institutional quarantine.
Also read: Domestic flights to resume with contactless regime in place
All flights to Vijayawada, scheduled for May 25, have been cancelled in the last minute. Flights are likely to resume on Tuesday.
Domestic air passengers landing in Goa from May 25 will be given two options: getting tested by paying a fee of ₹2,000 or a 14-day home quarantine stamp. Each passenger will be subject to a thermal temperature screening and have to fill up a declaration form, which will also include the address of stay in Goa.
In Uttar Pradesh, those passengers who don’t plan to leave the State after arrival will be kept in home quarantine for 14 days, Chief Secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari said. The district administration will be authorised to provide them relief from home quarantine, after their medical examination, in case they need to provide services in any office or they are needed for other important work. On the sixth day of arrival, the passenger can get a test conducted, and if the sample is found negative, home quarantine will be suspended, said an order.
The Rajasthan government has not issued any separate guidelines for air passengers. It makes 14-day quarantine mandatory for migrants returning from other States.
In Assam, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said there would be no quarantine for air passengers who fly out to their “desired or destined place” within 24 hours of arrival in Guwahati, provided they notified authorities of their departure upon arrival.
He added those who did not “return as declared” and stay beyond this time frame would be charged under relevant laws for giving false information. They may face imprisonment.
Mr. Sarma said returnees from foreign countries would not be required to undergo “repeat institutional quarantine” if they had undergone 14 days of quarantine in Delhi, but home quarantine would be a must for them. Institutional quarantine applies to those who do not undergo mandatory quarantine after arrival at any international airport in India.
Odisha has decided to reduce the quarantine period to 14 days from the existing 28 days. Earlier, people coming from outside the State are required to undergo 21 days of institutional quarantine and seven days of home quarantine.
“The quarantine period for returnees to the State will be limited to 14 days. This will be implemented by local authorities — District Collectors,” said an order issued by the Chief Secretary on Sunday.
The order says returnees in rural areas will undergo seven days of mandatory institutional quarantine; thereafter, asymptomatic returnees will be discharged to undergo home quarantine for a further period of seven days.
( With inputs from Chennai, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guwahati, Patna, Jaipur, Bhopal and Bhubaneswar bureaus )
