West Bengal: Kolkata Airport Issues New Guidelines For UK Returnees. Details Here

"As per the revised guidelines of Government of West Bengal, only International passengers arriving by flights from the UK to Kolkata Airport shall undergo 100% Covid test (90%RAT and 10% RT-PCR) on arrival," tweeted the official account of Kolkata Airport.

Kolkata: With the Omicron wave subsiding in the country, the West Bengal government has decided to do away with the mandatory Covid test for international returnees, except for UK travellers. According to Kolkata Airport authorities, now only international passengers arriving by flights from the UK to Kolkata will have to undergo a 100 per cent Covid test.

“As per the revised guidelines of Government of West Bengal, only International passengers arriving by flights from the UK to Kolkata Airport shall undergo 100% Covid test (90%RAT and 10% RT-PCR) on arrival,” tweeted the official account of Kolkata Airport.

#TravelAlert: As per revised guidelines of Govt of WB, only International passengers arriving by flights from UK to #KolkataAirport shall undergo 100% Covid test (90%RAT and 10% RT-PCR) on arrival. All other guidelines remains same as per latest @MoHFW_INDIA guidelines.

— Kolkata Airport (@aaikolairport) February 13, 2022

As per Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s new guidelines issued on February 10, the mandatory 72-hour report of RT-PCR is not required for air travellers anymore as they will be allowed to fly by showing their full vaccination certificate. The international travellers will also no longer be required to quarantine for seven days or get tested at the airports on arrival in India from Monday, February 14. The government has also decided to do away with the repeat Covid test on Day 8 of the arrival of international returnees.

As per the new guidelines, the international arrivals are asked to monitor their health for a period of 14 days and if they observe any Covid-19 like symptoms, they are directed to report to either to the nearest health facility or the government helpline 1075.

The demarcation of countries ‘at-risk’ & other countries removed. Accordingly need for giving samples on port of arrival & waiting till the result is obtained from countries ‘at-risk’ is dispensed with. (3/6)

— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) February 10, 2022

The government has also removed the demarcation of countries ‘at-risk’ and other countries. Now, there will be a random sampling of 2 per cent of international travellers from all countries on arrival. Travellers can give sample and are allowed to leave the airport, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Twitter.

According to the guidelines, passengers who are found to be symptomatic during screening after arrival will be immediately isolated and taken to a medical facility in accordance with health protocol. If tested positive, their contacts will be identified and managed as per laid down protocol. Further, their samples will be sent for genomic testing at the INSACOG laboratory network and they will be treated/isolated in accordance with standard protocol.

International travellers arriving through seaports/land ports will have to undergo the same protocol, except that the facility for online registration is not available for such passengers currently.

Children under five years have been exempted from both pre-and post-arrival testing.