Mumbai: International passengers to go through COVID-19 test at the airport

Mumbai Airport will soon start testing international passengers for COVID-19 on arrival, in case they have not tested COVID negative within 96 hours of travelling. Reportedly, international passengers taking connecting flights from Mumbai, will undergo Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests for COVI-19 on arrival at the airport. This is as per the new guidelines issued by the state government recently.

As per the guidelines, those passengers can get tested and will be further allowed to take the connecting flights on having a negative test report. However, those found positive might not be allowed to take the connecting flight and sent for institutional quarantine in Mumbai, the guidelines state.The Ministry of Civil Aviation recently issued a notification to all states and directed them to subject international passengers to COVID-19 tests at the entry airport. While passengers can choose between RT-PCR test, which takes more than eight hours to deliver results; or GeneXpert, which produces results within 30 min, the cost of the tests will be borne by passengers. As such the state government has advised passengers to book connecting flights accordingly, i.e., with a time gap of at least 8-12 hours, as RT-PCR test takes 7 to 8 hours to generate a report.

Referring to this, an officer from the Airport Health Authority (AHO) said that any international passenger who arrives at the Mumbai airport without RT-PCR negative report, but needs to take a connecting flight, will from now on have to undertake the test. He added that such passengers will be given the option of booking their test online.
If in case the passenger is found to be COVID negative, the airport will stamp the passenger’s hand and he will have to self-quarantine till the given date, whereas in case a passenger tests positive, he will be institutionally quarantined in the city.