New guidelines for air travelers issued

Bengaluru: In a move to control the spread of COVID-19, the Government of Karnataka has advised home quarantine for air passengers coming to the state from high risk countries. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has issued the new guidelines for international arrivals in light of increasing COVID-19 cases in certain countries.

The MoHFW has identified China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Japan under the list of high risk countries. According to the guidelines, all air passengers arriving at airports in Karnataka from these countries have to furnish additional requirements.

The guidelines from the MoHFW noted that travellers must submit information in self-declaration forms and upload an RT-PCR report on the Air Suvidha portal. Post arrival requirement like home quarantine, institutional quarantine and self-health monitoring must be undergone as warranted by relevant authorities.

Parts of the guidelines suggested that asymptomatic passengers from high risk countries must remain in home quarantine for seven days after leaving the airport. These passengers have been advised to maintain covid appropriate behaviour and monitor their health themselves. Any COVID symptom that they experience must be reported to health authorities.

The guidelines also say that passengers who show symptoms during screening will be immediately isolated and taken to a designated medical facility for treatment. Following these guidelines that were issued by the MoHFW, airports in Karnataka have complied with them. The Mangaluru and Bengaluru international airports have released passenger advisories that the guidelines are being followed.

It has been decided to make the quarantine mandatory for those coming from abroad if the infection is confirmed during the Covid screening and the sample of the infected will be sent to the Genomic Sequence Lab for testing. It is said that the public is turning to private hospitals due to the lack of covid vaccine in government hospitals in Bangalore.

Around 50 to 100 people are getting vaccinated every day at private hospitals, health department sources said, adding that that 10,000 vaccines are available in private hospitals.