Health Minister reviews screening, Covid testing facility at Delhi airport

"This arrangement is in practice with effect from 10 am on Sunday, January 1, 2023," the letter said

Mansukh L. Mandaviya
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya
Press Trust of India New Delhi
2 min read Last Updated : Jan 02 2023 | 9:55 PM IST

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya Monday reviewed the screening and Covid testing facility at the Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport amid a rise in coronavirus cases in some countries, including China.

The government has made random Covid tests mandatory for two per cent of passengers arriving on each international flight irrespective of their port of departure. Besides, passengers arriving in India from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand are being mandatorily required to provide Covid negative reports from January 1.

The test has to be conducted within 72 hours of undertaking the journey to India and the negative report from the RT-PCR test has to be uploaded on the Air Suvidha portal before departure.

This will also apply to passengers transiting through the six countries irrespective of their originating nations before coming to any Indian Airport, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to his Civil Aviation Ministry counterpart Rajiv Bansal on Monday.

"Accordingly, the Ministry of Civil Aviation's Air Suvidha Portal has to be made operational for passengers on all international flights from these countries, with a provision to allow international travellers arriving in India to submit negative RT-PCR test reports as well as a self-declaration form on this portal," he said in the letter.

"This arrangement is in practice with effect from 10 am on Sunday, January 1, 2023," the letter said.

In a tweet on Monday, Mandaviya said, "Reviewed Air Suvidha system and RT-PCR testing facilities for international passengers at the IGI Airport, New Delhi."

Amid a spike in coronavirus cases in some countries, the government has sounded an alert, tightened Covid guidelines and asked states and Union territories to prepare for any eventuality.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Quarterly Starter

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

Save 46%

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Access to Exclusive Premium Stories Online

  • Over 30 behind the paywall stories daily, handpicked by our editors for subscribers

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

More From This Section

Topics :CoronavirusOmicronMansukh MandaviyaCoronavirus TestsDelhi airport

First Published: Jan 02 2023 | 9:55 PM IST

Next Story