International passengers to be tested for COVID-19 at Visakhapatnam Airport from today

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has announced a new set of rules for international passengers arriving in India, and Visakhapatnam Airport authorities are stringently implementing the same. Starting today, random testing of international passengers for COVID-19 will be made compulsory at the Visakhapatnam Airport, according to the new rules.

Srinivasa Rao, Airport Director, said, “According to the guidelines issued by the Central Government, 2% of international passengers will be randomly tested for COVID-19. The airlines will identify these passengers, and their samples will be sent for testing to ascertain the results.”

Passengers will be tested at the point of entry and allowed to leave the airport. Randomly tested samples will be sent to the INSACOG Laboratory, and any person whose sample tests positive for COVID-19 will be sent for treatment as per protocol.

Vaccination status remains the same, with the fully vaccinated status being compulsory for air travel. The increasing number of cases of COVID-19 across a few countries has resulted in these precautionary measures being implemented immediately.

Also read: Andhra Pradesh fully equipped to handle spike of COVID-19, says HFW Commissioner

Currently, only one international flight is being operated from Visakhapatnam, and several international passengers are arriving in the city from Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. 2 out of every 100 passengers arriving at the Visakhapatnam Airport will be randomly tested for COVID-19 according to the new rules. The Director added that thermal screening of all passengers would continue, and precautionary measures like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing are advisable.

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