The spread of the new Omicron strain of the COVID-19 has made the government wary of resuming international flights. It issued new guidelines on Sunday, listing nearly a dozen “at risk” countries and eliminating the exemption for vaccinated people. 

The rules are intended to limit the spread of the Omicron variant. 

After a more than 20-month hiatus, the government announced on November 26 that scheduled international commercial flights would resume on December 15. Flights are currently taking place under bilateral bubble agreements with countries.

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What are the “at risk” countries?

These are the countries where Omicron strain cases have been recorded.  The variant was discovered in southern Africa and has since spread to several other countries. 

According to the government’s new guidelines, the United Kingdom, Europe as a whole, and 11 countries – South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Israel – are “at risk”.

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Rules for passengers arriving from ‘at risk’ countries

Passengers arriving in India from or transiting through ‘at-risk’ countries will be subjected to an RT-PCR test and will be needed to wait for the results before leaving the airport or boarding a connecting flight, according to revised Health Ministry guidelines. 

Travellers who test positive will be taken to a medical facility for isolation and will be required to stay there until they test negative if they are infected with the Omicron variant. If they become infected with any of the other variants, they will be released at the discretion of a doctor based on their condition. 

People who test negative after arriving in the listed countries will be required to enter home quarantine and take another test on the eighth day. The guidelines state that if they are positive, they must contact the COVID-19 helpline.

These visitors will also be required to declare their travel history for the previous 14 days.

The spread of Omicron variant

As of Sunday, at least nine countries had confirmed the presence of the super-mutated strain. The World Health Organization (WHO) designated the B.1.1.529 variant as a “Variant of Concern” on Friday.

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Situation in India

A man who recently returned to Dombivali in Maharashtra’s Thane district from South Africa tested positive for coronavirus, according to a Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) official on Sunday. 

As per the official, it remains unclear whether the patient was infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus, which was identified as the variant of concern by the WHO. 

His samples are being sent for genome sequencing to see if the Omicron variant is present. On November 24, the man travelled from Cape Town to Dombivali.