Molecular test made mandatory for travelers from Brazil, South Africa and UK
Posted on March 3, 2021 by Ghoomophiro
With an aim to control the mode of transmission of the fatal virus detected in the countries of the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil, India shall make it mandatory for people arriving directly or indirectly from the mentioned countries to undergo Covid-19 molecular tests.
Just after the United States, India has become the carrier of the highest number of Covid-19 cases. Last month, it has detected the South African variant in four people and the Brazilian variant in one person this month.
According to the government, the South African and Brazilian strains are likely to infect an individual’s lungs more easily than the UK variant. The UK variant of the infection has affected 187 Indians as of now.
On Wednesday, the government has asked the airlines to segregate the travelers from these countries from next week. Most people traveling from these countries usually transit via Middle Eastern airports as India doesn’t have direct flights with Brazil and South Africa.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India has stated, “All the travelers arriving from/transiting through flights originating in United Kingdom, Europe or the Middle East shall be mandatorily subjected to self-paid confirmatory molecular tests on arrival”.
Before boarding any flights to India, people are required to carry a recent Covid-19 negative test report, except in extraordinary situations like a death in a family.
155,000 deaths and nearly 11 million coronavirus cases have so far been reported in India. The mid of September has seen an unexpected record of 100,000 cases a day, but after that, the graph has moved downwards.
According to a serological survey released by the government this month, amongst 1.35 billion Indians, almost 300 million people have already been affected by the virus.
Since January 16, the country has also administered 9.2 million doses of the vaccine.
