Passengers traveling to India from seven additional countries, including China and South Africa, are now required to have a negative RT-PCR test that is no more than 72 hours old. The move follows the identification of a novel Covid strain – C.1.2 – that may be more virulent and has showed signs of bypassing vaccine protection.
Previously, this law only applied to immigrants from the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East; now, seven other nations – South Africa, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, and Zimbabwe – have been included.
In May, the new variety was discovered in South Africa. Since then, it has been discovered in China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mauritius, England, New Zealand, Portugal, and Switzerland.
According to the new criteria, only asymptomatic travellers will be allowed to board flights to India, and upon arrival, they will be tested for Covid again using an RT-PCR test.
The ministry has also requested that governments provide a predetermined percentage of positive case samples from international travelers for genomic surveillance.
Earlier this month, Mumbai’s civic government, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), made RT-PCR tests mandatory for overseas travellers arriving at the city airport beginning September 3rd, due to concerns about the new strain.
C.1.2. originated from C.1., a virus lineage that dominated infections during the virus’s initial wave in South Africa in mid-2020. It possesses 44 to 59 mutations from the original virus discovered in Wuhan, China.