LONDON – Amid a surge of a variant of concern “Omicron”, the Covid-19 cases in the capital city of India are on a steep rise since past week.

The Delhi Health Minister Mr. Jain announced that many of the international arrivals at Delhi Airport, who tested negative at the airport RTPCR test have now started testing positive, further spreading the infection. 

Mr. Jain further stated that “The cases have increased due to international flights. Even during the earlier wave, the cases rose with flights coming in from international destinations.”

As the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) along with the Ministry of Health (MoH) has issued strict guidelines on November 30th stating international passengers arriving from “at-risk” countries need to bring negative RT-PCR test reports and take tats at the airport on their arrival at Delhi International Airport.

After the negative test result, passengers are advised to follow strict home quarantine for 7 days, taking another round of RT-PCR tests on the 8th day.

However, if such traveler still tests positive, their sample should be sent to the genomic testing laboratory at INSACOG labs.

This new trend of transmission has caused fear amongst travelers who are visiting India from foreign countries in the holiday season.

The authorities have requested all the arriving international passengers to follow strict Covid-19 Protocols, self-isolate, keep testing, and get vaccinated at the earliest as per the government’s rapid vaccination program. 

The Government of India has different protocols and set of guidelines for various states and arriving airports. At the same time, the guidelines change from arrivals for “at-risk” countries at a different port of entry throughout India.