COVID-19 India: Health Ministry issues domestic and international guidelines

On Sunday, the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs Welfare issued a comprehensive list of guidelines for domestic and international travel amid the pandemic lockdown. 

The guidelines include advising passengers to download the Aarogya Setu application to their mobile devices and asking states to ensure thermal screening at the point of departure of airports, railway stations and bus terminals. 

The guidelines come one day before the resumption of air travel while last week, the Indian Railways issued a list of trains that it will operate as of June 1.

The guidelines indicated that passengers must always follow social distancing and wear protective masks. All passengers should install Aarogya Setu Mobile app. Asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to go home for 14 days to observe their health and report if any symptoms arise.

The ministry stated that the state government can also develop their own quarantine and isolation protocol, according to their assessment. Dos and Don'ts are provided by the agencies concerned along with tickets for the travellers.

The States and Union Territories shall ensure that at the point of departure all passengers undergo thermal screening and that only asymptomatic passengers are permitted to board the flight, train or bus.

Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, tweeted out the latest guidelines on domestic and international travel. 

 A must for all passengers

• Thermal screening at the exit point.
• Those with moderate or severe symptoms will be admitted to health facilities dedicated to COVID and managed accordingly, the guidelines said.
• All passengers must use face coverings or masks during boarding and travel, as well as hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene and environmental hygiene, the ministry said in its guidelines.
• Those identified as symptomatic will be isolated and taken to the nearest health facility. They're going to be assessed for clinical severity at the health facility.
• Those with moderate or severe symptoms will be admitted to COVID Health facilities and managed accordingly.
• Those with mild symptoms will be given the option of home insulation or isolation at the COVID Care Center (both public and private) as appropriate and tested in accordance with the ICMR protocol. 
• Those tested negative may be allowed to go home, isolate him/herself for another 7 days and monitor his/her health.
• In case, any symptoms develop they shall inform the district surveillance officer or the state/national call centre (1075).

Terminals/stations should be sanitised

Railway stations, airport and bus terminals should be sanitized/disinfected on a regular basis and the availability of soaps and sanitizers should be ensured. Appropriate precautionary measures, such as environmental sanitation and disinfection, shall be taken at airports as well as on flights. All possible measures to ensure social distance should be ensured during boarding and at airports.

Read the full guidelines for domestic travel here.

Read the full guidelines for international arrivals here.

Specifying the guidelines for international arrivals, the Ministry said that before boarding, all travellers would have to make an undertaking that they would abide by the above-mentioned rule in order to ensure the least possible transmission.

Exceptions will be made in a few cases—human distress, pregnancy, death in the family, serious illness, and parents accompanied by children under 10 years of age. For 14 days, they will be asked to self-isolate at home.