With a new wave of COVID surge in various countries and more so in neighboring China, the government of India is considering the revival of Air Suvidha forms for foreign travelers. Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a meeting today, and he discussed a variety of options that the government needs to consider in the coming days.
A few days back, sporadic cases were reported. However, now, nearly 5 lakh cases are being reported abroad, pressing for urgency in the revival of Air Suvidha forms at airports. Of course, the number has been around 185 in India so far, but the government has already rolled out guidelines to all states and has sought samples for genome sequencing at INSACOG labs.
Only recently, the government stopped asking for RT-PCR and vaccination documents which were mandatory during the COVID wave. But it may not be long before foreign travelers have to fill in details of the RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to travel and vaccination details while flying into the country.
However, the government has also started 2% random testing at airports already in a step towards gauging the severity of COVID this time around.
