India to review resumption of commercial international flights

The Centre has said that it would take a decision on the effective date of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger flights after reviewing the evolving global scenario. The statement comes after several countries placed travel restrictions on some countries in southern Africa over the new coronavirus variant, Omicron. The government will also review the standard operating procedure on testing and surveillance of the incoming international passengers, especially those travelling from countries listed in the ‘at risk’ category. The decision was taken after an urgent meeting chaired by the home secretary on Sunday in New Delhi. 

The ministry added that genomic surveillance for variants will be further strengthened and intensified, and health officials at airports and ports will be sensitised for strict supervision of testing protocol at entry points.  “Closer watch on emerging pandemic situation within the country will be maintained,” it said. Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, Dr Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to Prime Minister, and senior officers from Health, Civil Aviation and other ministries were present in the meeting.

The new variant of concern, first identified in South Africa, has now been detected in several countries, triggering concerns over the alarming transmission rate. Two cases of Omicron was detected in Australia on Sunday even as more countries are moving towards tightening travel restrictions to curb the virus transmission.