Test, Another Test, Result, Quarantine: The Covid Drill You'll Have to Follow if You Land at Mumbai Int'l Airport

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has made rapid RT-PCR test mandatory for all the international passengers landing at the international airport in Mumbai. The decision has some amid the rising Covid cases, including Omicron.

“All international passengers who test positive in the rapid RT-PCR test shall undergo routine RT-PCR test at the airport itself,” the revised order said. If the routine RT-PCR test is positive, then the sample will be sent immediately for genome sequencing and the passenger will be sent to institutional quarantine.

The city on Tuesday reported 10,860 new coronavirus cases, up 34.37 per cent from a day ago and highest daily count since April 7, 2021, while two more patients succumbed to the infection. With these additions, Mumbai’s tally of coronavirus cases jumped to 8,18,462, while the death toll increased to 16,381, said the BMC in a bulletin.

Mayor Kishori Pednekar warned residents that if the daily cases cross the 20,000-mark, a lockdown will be imposed in the city as per the Union government’s rules.

Talking to reporters at her office in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters on Tuesday, Pednekar suggested that people wear triple-layer masks while traveling by public buses and local trains. She also appealed to them to get vaccinated at the earliest and follow all Covid-19-related standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray might address the citizens in a couple of days, she said. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar chaired a meeting with state health minister Rajesh Tope and senior govt officers on Wednesday to decide if curfew needs to be extended and other Covid-appropriate behaviour.

Here Are The Rules for Flyers Landing in Mumbai:

• If found positive in rapid test, then passengers will be asked to take RT-PCR test.

• If found negative in rapid test, then passenger will be allowed to go home and quarantine for 7 days.

• If a passenger is found positive and is symptomatic, then he/she will be admitted to Seven Hills/Bombay Hospital/Breach Candy Hospital.

• If a passenger found positive and is asymptomatic, then patient will be taken to BKC/Kanjur Jumbo Centre or a private hospital/hotel.

Earlier, the RT-PCR test was mandatory only for international travellers arriving from ‘countries at risk’.

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