India Lifts Covid Quarantine Rules for International Travelers

India lifted on Monday Covid quarantine restrictions for international travelers who are fully vaccinated.

Fully vaccinated travelers shall be allowed to leave the airport and need not undergo home quarantine and testing, according to the revised guidelines for international arrivals. However, they have to produce a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR report

This decision is for those traveling from countries that have a mutual acceptance of World Health Organization (WHO) approved Covid-19 vaccines.

“The global trajectory of Covid-19 pandemic continues to decline with certain regional variations. The need to monitor the continuously changing nature of virus and the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) must still remain in focus,” the Union health ministry said.

All travelers must submit a self-declaration form on the online Air Suvidha portal before the scheduled travel to India and upload a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR report, according to the guidelines. This test should have been conducted within 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey.

Concerning the partially or not vaccinated travelers, they need to undertake measures which include submission of sample for post-arrival Covid-19 test when they arrive the country. Then, they will be allowed to leave the airport, home quarantine for seven days, re-test on the eighth day of arrival in India, and if negative, further self-monitor their health for the next seven days.