New Coronavirus Strain: UK Returnees To Undergo Compulsory Test on Arrival, Says Hardeep Singh Puri

New Coronavirus Strain: UK Returnees To Undergo Compulsory Test on Arrival, Says Hardeep Singh Puri

Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday announced that the people coming from the United Kingdom will have to undergo compulsory tests on arrival. Speaking to news agency ANI, Puri further added that the government will review the situation if any steps have to be taken to contain the spread of the virus.

On the issue of resumption of flights from the UK amid the growing cases of new Coronavirus strain in India, Hardeep Singh Puri said, “We took a decision on limited resumption of civil aviation traffic between India and the United Kingdom-based on an assessment of available facts. We decided that RTPCR test which was done 72 hours ahead of travelling was not enough. So, we made it compulsory to test again on arrival. We will review the situation if any steps have to be taken. The total number of flights to UK have been reduced from 60 a week to 30.”

Puri had earlier informed that the flights between India and the UK will resume from 8 January. To prevent the spread of a new strain of the coronavirus found in the UK, the government had earlier extended the suspension of flights to and from the UK from 31 December till 7 January.

However, operations will be restricted and such flights will only operate to and from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

“It has been decided that flights between India and UK will resume from 8 January 2021. Operations till 23 January will be restricted to 15 flights per week each for carriers of the two countries to & from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru & Hyderabad only. @DGCAIndia (Directorate General of Civil aviation) will issue the details shortly,” Puri said on Twitter.

Prior to that airlines such as Air India, Virgin Atlantic, British Airway, and Vistara operated several weekly flights between the countries from Indian cities such as Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Amritsar, apart from Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.