The coronavirus cases in India continue to skyrocket in the country. The daily Covid-19 cases in the country have increased from 10,000 to 1 lakh cases in nearly 8 days. India is currently in the third wave triggered by the Omicron strain.

When the Covid-19 situation seemed to be under control in the country, the new variant emerged in South Africa, spreading it to over 100 countries in just few weeks.

To curb the spread of highly transmissible variant, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has updated the list of countries from where travellers would need to follow additional measures on arrival in India, including post-arrival testing.

Bangladesh has been removed from India’s list of Omicron at-risk countries, but Ghana and Tanzania have been added to the list in order to impose additional restrictions on visitors from those countries.

Check the list of updated at-risk countries

1. Countries in Europe including The United Kingdom
2. South Africa
3. Brazil
4. Botswana
5. China
6. Ghana
7. Mauritius
8. New Zealand
9. Zimbabwe
10. Tanzania
11. Hong Kong
12. Israel
13. Congo
14. Ethiopia
15. Kazakhstan
16. Kenya
17. Nigeria
18. Tunisia
19. Zambia

According to the ministry, the list of countries is being updated regularly based on the prevalent epidemiological situation of COVID-19 in these countries including circulation of Variants of Concern.

Updated guidelines for International travellers

The civil aviation ministry has also updated the guidelines for those travelling from at-risk countries. All applications from ‘at risk’ nations are marked with a H and a red band, while those from other countries are labeled with a green band. This facilitates easy segregation and processing of passengers upon arrival. This list is updated on a regular basis to keep with the updates of Union’s health ministry.

The application also takes into account countries visited in the last 14 days to highlight ‘at risk’ applications. For standardisation, this field has been turned into a multi-select drop-down option. Passengers from ‘at risk’ nations are urged to book their test on arrival in advance, and a link to the relevant testing centre is sent to them.

Read Also: Delhi likely to see 17,000 cases, positivity rate to inch above 17%, says state health minister

All international passengers coming/transiting from at-risk countries must complete a self-declaration form on the Air Suvidha portal, upload a negative RT-PCR report (conducted within 72 hours before the flight), take a post-arrival Covid-19 test at the arriving airport (at their own expense), stay in quarantine for seven days, re-test on the eighth day, and if negative, undergo self-health monitoring for the next seven days.

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