India issues SOPs for travellers arriving from the UK

Indian government on Tuesday issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for those arriving from the United Kingdom, amid fears of the fast spreading new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in Britain. India also announced a temporary ban on flights from the United Kingdom to India, starting December 23, and will remain in place till December 31.
Releasing the SOPs, the Union Health Ministry stated that the new variant of the virus, as per the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC), is more transmissible and affects the younger population.
As per the statement from the Ministry, “This variant is defined by a set of 17 changes or mutations. One of the most significant...changes...may result in the virus becoming more infectious and spreading more easily between people."
Here are the latest guidelines:

• All international travellers will need to fill self-declaration forms, and declare their travel history of the past 14 days.
• Those who have arrived in India from the United Kingdom between November 25 and December 8, 2020, will have to undergo RT-PCR tests.
• All states have been directed to get the list of returnees.
• Those testing positive, will be isolated in an institutional isolation facility by the respective state authorities.
• Their samples will then be collected and sent for genomic sequencing.
• Those detected to be carrying the current strain of COVID-19, they will be administered the ongoing treatment protocol.
• Necessary action will be taken to send them to home isolation or treatment at the facility level depending on the severity of the cases.
• If anybody is found to be carrying the new variant of SARS-CoV-2, they will remain in a separate isolation unit.
• State governments will have to make sure that those travelling from or transiting through airports in the United Kingdom, and disembarking in India, undergo RT-PCR test upon arrival.
• Those who have arrived in India from the United Kingdom between November 25 and December 8, will also be contacted by District Surveillance Officers and advised to self-monitor their health.