Keeping in view the rising cases of coronavirus in China and other countries, the Central government on Thursday made RT-PCR test mandatory for air passengers from 6 countries from January 1, 2023.
Giving details, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the fliers from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand will have to upload their reports on the Air Suvidha portal before travelling to India.
This latest requirement for international air passengers is in addition to the random two per cent tests of all fliers in all incoming international flights on their arrival in India irrespective of their port of departure, he said.
The COVID restrictions on international air passengers have been imposed amid sudden rise in cases in China and several other countries.
The upsurge in cases has prompted the Central government to issue alert and states and Union territories to prepare for any eventuality.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Health Minister Mandaviya held high-level meetings recently to review COVID situation in the country.
As part of the preparations, states and Union territories held mock drills on Tuesday to check the operational readiness of health facilities to tackle any spurt in COVID-19 infection.
India reported 268 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases increased to 3,552, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. However, the daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.11 per cent and the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.17 per cent, the ministry added.
