India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued revised guidelines for travellers arriving from overseas, putting an end to the mandatory one week home isolation and the need for them to undergo an RTPCR test on the eighth day.
Fully vaccinated international passengers from 82 countries will be permitted quarantine-free entry from today, the ministry said.
“The ‘at-risk’ tag for countries has also been removed. Accordingly, the need for giving samples on port of arrival and waiting till the result is obtained from countries ‘at-risk’ is dispensed with,” Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted on Thursday.
Earlier, passengers from ‘at-risk’ countries were required to undergo home quarantine for seven days on arrival in India.
“On the basis of reciprocity, the travellers from only such countries which provide quarantine-free entry to Indians will be allowed for relaxation,” the guidelines say. These include countries with which India has an agreement on mutual recognition of vaccination certificates of either nationally recognised vaccines or those recognised by the WHO. Countries with which India doesn’t have such an agreement, but they still exempt Indian citizens who are fully vaccinated will also be permitted quarantine-free entry.
The Health Ministry identified 82 such countries, including UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, among others.