Updated: December 22, 2020 8:50:20 pm
An Indian municipal worker in personal protective equipment (PPE) watches passengers arriving from the UK at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, December 22, 2020.
In light of the emergence of a new, seemingly more contagious strain of coronavirus in the UK, the Health Ministry on Tuesday issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for passengers who have traveled or transited the UK in the past four weeks. .
Mandatory RT-PCR tests on arrival, separate isolation of those who test positive for the new variant of the coronavirus and institutional quarantine for the companions of those who test positive are some of the requirements mentioned by the Center to the states. .
“In case of a positive sample, it is recommended that the spike gene-based RT-PCR test also be performed by an appropriate laboratory,” the ministry said. The guidelines come a day after the government decided that all UK-origin flights to India will be temporarily suspended until 11:59 p.m. on December 31.
The Ministry said that the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) estimated that this new variant of the virus is “more transmissible and affects the younger population.” “This variant is defined by a set of 17 changes or mutations. One of the most significant changes … may result in the virus becoming more infectious and spreading more easily between people, ”the statement said.
The ministry also called on state governments to isolate passengers who test positive at an institutional isolation facility in a separate isolation unit coordinated by the respective state health authorities. “They would allocate specific facilities for such isolation and treatment. The action necessary to send the samples to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune or any other appropriate laboratory for genomic sequencing will begin at the facility level, ”the ministry said.
He also said that all contacts (without exception) of those passengers who tested positive on arrival between December 21 and 23 would also be subjected to institutional quarantine. “The contacts in the suspected case are the passengers sitting in the same row, three rows in front and three rows behind, together with the identified cabin crew,” the ministry said.
Passengers who test negative at the airport are advised to self-quarantine at home.
The ministry has also urged the district’s watchdog officers to contact international travelers from the UK who arrived in India between November 25 and December 8. Travelers are asked to monitor their health themselves. “If any of them develop symptoms, they will be examined by RT PCR,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile, adhering to the latest directive, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai announced that all passengers arriving from the Middle East and European countries will be subject to mandatory institutional quarantine.
“Passengers arriving from these regions will be transported by state officials to nearby hotels of their choice to undergo institutional quarantine for seven days at their own cost,” the state government said.
Three people who came to India from Britain tested positive for the new coronavirus, a government official said on Tuesday, but it was unclear if they had a highly infectious new strain of the virus.
On Monday, the central government had asked people not to panic and said the government was on alert about the new strain of coronavirus that has emerged in the UK.
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