New guidelines on Omicron from today: RT-PCR test necessary for passengers coming from ‘at risk’ countries, travel history information will also have to be given

Amidst growing concern about the new variant of Corona, Omicron, a new guideline has been implemented for international passengers from today. The Center had issued these guidelines between November 28 and 30. It has been told that it will be necessary for passengers coming from at risk countries to undergo RT-PCR test. Passengers will have to wait at the airport till the result is out. Additional RT-PCR facilities will be arranged at all airports.

Travel history to be mentioned in the form
Except for ‘at risk’ countries, passengers from other countries will be allowed out of the airport. They will have to do self-monitoring for 14 days. Countries that have been excluded from Omicron’s danger category, 5% of the passengers coming from there will definitely be tested. According to this, now all international passengers will have to give their 14-day travel history before boarding the flight in the self-declaration form available on the Air Suvidha portal.

Delhi Airport Testing has increased the number of seats to wait during testing.

To implement the new guidelines, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has increased the capacity of existing seats during testing from 1,000 to 1,400. About 1,200 passengers are expected to arrive at Delhi airport daily. They will have to get tested according to the new guideline. In testing, the seats have been arranged according to social distancing.

Highlights of the guidelines..

1. Genome Sequencing of Positive Samples
Passengers found positive will be isolated, genome sequencing of the sample will be done. Passengers found negative will be able to go home, but will have to remain isolated for 7 days. Such passengers will be tested again on the 8th day and they will have to do self-monitoring for the next 7 days. The outgoing passengers will be required to give the RT-PCR report of the test done 72 hours ago. Countries that have been excluded from Omicron’s danger category, 5 percent of the passengers coming from there will definitely be tested.

2. Variant of Concern is Omicron, keep caution in that regard
The Center has said that Omicron is a variant of concern. Therefore it is necessary to catch it immediately. For this, do maximum testing and increase surveillance on hotspots.

3. States collect travel data at their level
The Center has said that a mechanism to get information about the past air travel of passengers coming through international flights already exists in every state. States should review this at their own level so that immediate measures can be initiated for passengers coming from at-risk countries. In the new guideline, states have been asked to increase surveillance.

To prevent infection in big cities, the Center has asked the states to increase testing. -file photo

4. Strictly Enforce Kovid-Appropriate Behavior
The Center has reiterated that defense is the only real security. Therefore, the State-Union Territory should strictly follow the Kovid-appropiate behavior. Also increase the containment, keep surveillance active, increase the scope and speed of vaccination coverage so that this variant of concern can be effectively dealt with.

5. Keep Adequate Infrastructure Ready for Testing
The Health Ministry has said that all states should keep adequate testing infrastructure operational in their place so that any sudden jump in the number of infected due to this mutated virus can be dealt with. The ministry has given a clear warning to the states that in many states, the number of RT-PCR tests has appeared to be falling in proportion to the overall testing. In the absence of adequate testing, it is extremely difficult to determine the exact level of infection.

States have been asked to increase the number of testing infrastructure and RT-PCR.

6. Monitoring of hotspots should be done continuously
States have been asked to continue vigilant monitoring both in the areas listed as corona hotspots and in areas where there has been a sudden jump in the number of positive patients in the recent past. Along with this, orders have also been given to conduct saturation testing at hotspots and send all positive samples for genome sequencing in any case.

7. Make a target to keep the positivity rate below 5%
The states should set a target to keep the positivity rate below 5% in any way. For this, focus on increasing the number of tests and increasing the number of RT-PCR tests in that too so that any positive patient can be identified at the earliest.

8. Maintain Adequate Availability of Health Facilities
States should maintain adequate availability of health facilities in all their areas and ensure that there is no delay in providing treatment. Also, all the states should use the financial assistance given by the central government wisely.

9. Keep an eye on virus changes through INSACOG
The Center has said that INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) has been formed to monitor the mutations occurring in different variants of corona in the country, which is a multi-laboratory and its corona virus genomic variants have been formed. There is a Pan-India network to monitor. The Center has urged all the states to increase the sampling of the general public on a large scale to help them monitor the virus through INSACOG.

INSACOG has been formed to monitor the mutations occurring in the virus.

10. 12 countries included in ‘At Risk’ countries
Let us inform that the Central Government has prepared a list of 12 countries, where the risk of new variants is high. These include all countries of Europe including the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.