As India temporarily suspended flights from the UK until December 31 on Monday over the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus there, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that as an interim measure, all Passengers arriving from the UK on all international flights will undergo mandatory RT-PCR testing on arrival.
Read also | India suspends flights to and from the United Kingdom until December 31 due to the new variant of Covid-19
“We have decided to take all the necessary precautions as a result of the situation arising from the spread of a new strain of coronavirus in some countries. All flights from the UK to India will be temporarily suspended from December 22 to December 31, 2020, ”Puri tweeted on Monday. “In the meantime, it has been decided that passengers arriving from the UK on all international flights (flights in transit) must undergo mandatory RT-PCR tests upon arrival,” he added.
“Those that are found positive on arrival should be sent to institutional quarantine established by the state / UT governments, in collaboration with the interested states / UT. Those who test negative should be advised to isolate themselves at home for 7 days and will be medically monitored by the states / UT, ”the minister published in a subsequent tweet.
The discovery of the new strain of coronavirus in the UK, which earlier this month became the first country to start an emergency vaccination campaign, has prompted countries to rush to ban flights from there. A host of countries, including several in Europe and now also India, have announced flight bans from the UK.
India suspended domestic and international flights in March, when the first domestic shutdown was announced. In May, domestic flights were allowed to resume operations and have gained momentum since then. International travel, however, remains suspended. The government has been repatriating Indian citizens from abroad under the ‘Vande Bharat’ mission and has established air transport bubbles with various countries.
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