COVID-19 crisis: International passengers arriving at Delhi airport to undergo 7-day paid institutional quarantine

As coronavirus spreads like wildfire across the country, international passengers arriving at Delhi airport will have to undergo seven days of institutional quarantine at their own cost following which they have to home quarantine for another week.

As per the latest guidelines issued by the airport authority, all the international passengers have to sign an undertaking accepting the proposal of seven days paid institutional quarantine which will be retained by the overseas mission/embassy before the booking is confirmed.

Moreover, international passengers planning to stay in the Delhi-NCR region have to undergo mandatory health screening which includes a primary screening by health officials of the airport, followed by a secondary screening at Delhi government post before being allowed to proceed to their quarantine location. 

However, certain passengers are exempted from being institutionally quarantined: pregnant women, those who suffered death in the family, those suffering from a serious illness, and parents travelling with children below 10 years have to send an undertaking form, along with required documents, to airportcovid@gmail.com.

Meanwhile, domestic passengers arriving at Delhi airport will only be allowed to leave after passing the thermal screening near the exit gates. Further, they will have to stay under home quarantine for 7 days.

International flights can resume through bilateral air bubbles between countries till the situation returns to normalcy, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday. 

India had suspended all international flights in March before it imposed a nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus. It, however, has been operating special flights under the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indian citizens stuck across various countries. 

With a spike of 37,148 cases and 587 deaths reported in India on Tuesday, the total number of COVID-19 cases stood at 11,55,191, according to the Union Ministry of Health.

The total number of cases include 4,02,529 active cases, 7,24,578 cured/discharged/migrated patients and 28,084 deaths.

(With ANI inputs)