even as the centre on monday clarified that no cases of the new omicron variant have been detected in india yet the government has revised the travel guidelines for international travelers flying into india as the new covid19 strain threat looms large the new guidelines will come into effect from december 1 the government has mandated covid testing for travellers from countries atrisk postarrival the high risk countries include those in europe including the united kingdom south africa brazil bangladesh botswana china mauritius new zealand zimbabwe singapore hong kong and israelthe centre has also decided to review the date of resumption of scheduled international commercial flights as per the evolving global scenario on friday the ministry of civil aviation had announced the resumption of these flights from december 15 after a 21month gapthe existing guidelines have been revised in view of reporting of a new variant of sarscov2 b11529 named omicron which has been now classified as variant of concern by the world health organization the health ministry saidthe announcement comes a day after prime minister narendra modi called for a proactive approach and a review of plans for easing international travel curbs and urged people to be more cautioushere is everything you need to know if you are flying into india from abroad on or after 1 december 2021the government has mandated submission of the 14 days travel details and negative rtpcr report on the air suvidha portal before travelling to india a declaration with respect to the authenticity of the covid19 test report will also be required manipulated reports will make the passenger liable for criminal prosecutionpassengers coming from atrisk countries will have to undergo rtpcr testing on arrival in india now if tested negative theyll follow home quarantine for seven days retest will take place on the eighth day which if negative further selfmonitoring will happen for next seven daysthe airlines concerned should identify the five per cent of such travellers to be tested in each flight preferably from different countries such travellers will be escorted to the ministry of civil aviation authorities to the testing area on arrival and the cost of testing of such travellers will be borne by the ministry laboratories will prioritize testing of samples from such travellersif a passenger tested positive for coronavirus in an airport test postarrival or predeparture they will be isolated and treated as per clinical management protocol the sample of such passengers will be taken for whole genome sequencingat the time of boarding only asymptomatic travellers will be allowed to get on the flight after thermal screening and all passengers shall be advised to download aarogya setu app on their mobile deviceschildren under five years of age remain exempted from both preand postarrival testing however if found symptomatic for covid19 on arrival or during the home quarantine period they will have to undergo testing and be treated as per laid down protocolall those who have come in contact with covid positive travellers will also be subjected to quarantine