India has begun the second phase of Vande Bharat Mission to evacuate Indian's stranded abroad.
As many as 93 nationals arrived in Madhya Pradesh's Indore from London on Sunday morning in a special Air India flight which has been spearheading the government's ambitious 'Vande Bharat' mission to bring stranded citizens back home owing to the covid lockdown.
The second repatriation flight from Muscat, Oman, under the Centre's 'Vande Bharat' mission reached Gaya in Bihar via Delhi on Sunday with 132 stranded Indian nationals onboard.
Gaya District Magistrate Abhishek Singh told ANI that the passengers of the flight hail from Bihar and Jharkhand and were brought from Delhi last night. They were only allowed to exit the airport following a medical screening under a Covid-19 protocol.
Following this, all the passengers will be quarantined for 14 days.
As the evacuation process has been ramped up, the Health Ministry has issued guidelines to follow upon their arrival.
Here are the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry;
i. Before boarding, all travellers shall give an undertaking that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days - 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitoring of health.
ii. Only for exceptional and compelling reasons such as cases of human distress, pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parent(s) accompanied by children below 10 years, as assessed by the receiving states, home quarantine may be permitted for 14 days. Use of Aarogya Setu app shall be mandatory in such cases.
iii. Dos and Don'ts shall be provided along with ticket to the travelers by the agencies concerned.
iv. All passengers shall be advised to download Arogya Setu app on their mobile devices.
v. At the time of boarding the flight/ ship, only asymptomatic travelers will be allowed to board after thermal screening.
vi. Passengers arriving through the land borders will also have to undergo the same protocol as above, and only those who are asymptomatic will be enabled to cross the border into India.
vii. Serf-declaration form in duplicate shall be filled by the person in the flight/ship and a copy of the same will be given to Health and Immigration officials present at the airport/ seaport/ landport. The form may also be made available on Aarogya Setu app.
viii. Suitable precautionary measures such as environmental sanitation and disinfection shall be ensured at the airports as well as within the flights.
ix. During boarding and at the airports, all possible measures to ensure social distancing to be ensured.
x. Suitable announcement about COVID-19 including precautionary measures to be followed shall be made at airports/port and in flighu/ships and during transit.
xi. While on board the flight/ ship, required precautions such as wearing of masks, environmental hygiene, respiratory hygiene, hand hygiene etc. are to be observed by airline/ ship staff, crew and all passengers.
xii. On arrival, thermal screening would be carried out in respect of all the passengers by the Health officials present at the airport/ seaport/ landport.
xiii. The passengers found to be symptomatic during screening shall be immediately isolated and taken to medical facility as per health protocol.
xiv. The remaining passengers shall be taken to suitable institutional quarantine facilities, to be arranged by the respective State/ UT Govemments.
xv. These passengers shall be kept under institutional quarantine for a minimum period of 7 days. They shall be tested as per ICMR protocol available at haps://www.mohfw.govin/pdf/Revisedtestinfauidelines.pdf
If they test positive, they shall be assessed clinically.
a. If they are assessed as mild cases, they will be allowed home isolation or isolated in the Covid Care Centre (both public & private facilities) as appropriate.
b. Those having moderate or severe symptoms will be admitted to dedicated COVID Health facilities and managed accordingly. If found negative, they shall be advised to further isolate themselves at home and self-monitor their health for 7 days.
xvi. In case, any symptoms develop they shall inform the district surveillance officer or the state/national call center (1075).
NOTE: States can also develop their own protocol with regards to quarantine and isolation as per their assessment.
COVID-19 cases in India saw the biggest spike for the third consecutive day on Sunday with 6,767 new infections reported in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 1,31,868, while the death toll due to the disease rose to 3,867 after 147 more fatalities, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.
The active cases of the coronavirus disease rose to 73,560. While 54,440 people have recovered, one patient has migrated to another country, according to the ministry's bulletin.
