New Covid rules from today for flyers to India from these countries

Almost a month after the pre-boarding RT-PCR tests were made mandatory for travellers from six countries - China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and Japan - the government announced that the restrictions will be lifted from Monday. As Covid-19 cases have been on a sharp decline worldwide, the Centre has also removed the rule to upload the 'Air Suvidha' form for passengers arriving through or via the six countries.

1. In a letter to civil aviation secretary Rajiv Bansal, union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote that the current mandate of pre-departure Covid-19 testing - taken not more than 72 hours before the journey - and self-health declaration on ‘Air Suvidha’ for international arrivals from six countries was being changed in lieu of the downward spiral of Covid-19 cases.

2. However, the union health ministry will continue monitoring emerging variants and random testing for Covid-19 of 2% of all travellers arriving in India, irrespective of the source country, will remain. The random tests, halted in November, were kickstarted again from December 24 owing to the escalating Covid situation in China and neighbouring countries.

3. The updated guidelines will come into effect from 11 am on February 13.

4. The decision comes in the wake of a significant decline in coronavirus cases in these countries, over the past few weeks.

5. According to the World Health Organization's data, the last 28 days saw a dip of 89% in new infections compared to the numbers registered in the previous 28 days.

6. Chief epidemiologist at the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wu Zunyou, recently stated that there is very less chances of China having to battle a fresh wave of Covid-19 on a large scale in the near future.

7. India continues to report a decline in the number of Covid19 cases with less than 100 being registered daily. As per data on Sunday, 124 new Covid-19 cases were recorded while the active infection numbers rose to 1,843. Number of deaths due to Covid19 stood at 5,30,750. In December, India had stepped up its preparedness to combat the possibility of a fresh surge, amidst reports of increasing cases in many countries after China revoked its zero-Covid policy.

8. According to the health ministry's website, around 220.62 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in India till date.