States should ensure thermal screening at departure point of airports, stations: Health min

The Health Ministry has issued guidelines for domestic travel, advising passengers to download the Aarogya Setu application on their mobile devices and asking states to ensure thermal screening at departure point of airports, railway stations and bus terminals.

New Delhi: The Health Ministry on Sunday issued guidelines for domestic travel, advising passengers to download the Aarogya Setu application on their mobile devices and asking states to ensure thermal screening at departure point of airports, railway stations and bus terminals.

Asymptomatic passengers should be permitted to travel after being asked to self-monitor for 14 days, the ministry said.

Dos and Don'ts shall be provided along with tickets to travellers by agencies concerned, said the ministry's guidelines for domestic travel (air/train/inter-state bus travel).

All passengers shall be advised to download the Arogya Setu application on their mobile devices, it said.

The guidelines come after the Indian Railways last week issued a list of 100 pairs of trains that it will operate from June 1, putting in operation popular trains such as Durontos, Sampark Krantis, Jan Shatabdis and Poorva Express.

Also, after a two-month hiatus, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has announced resumption of domestic flights from May 25.

In its guidelines for domestic travel, the health ministry said suitable announcement about COVID-19 including precautionary measures to be followed shall be made at airports, railway stations and bus terminals as well as in flights, trains and buses.

• The states/UTs shall ensure that all passengers undergo thermal screening at the point of departure and only asymptomatic passengers are allowed to board the flight, train or bus.
• During boarding and travel, all passengers shall use face covers or masks and will also follow hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene and maintain environmental hygiene, the ministry said in its guidelines.
• At airports, railway stations and bus terminals, required measures to ensure social distancing shall be taken, the guidelines said.
• Airports, railway stations and bus terminals should be regularly sanitised or disinfected and the availability of soaps and sanitisers shall be ensured, the health ministry said.
• Thermal screening at exit point shall be arranged and asymptomatic passengers will be permitted to go with the advice that they shall self-monitor their health for 14 days, the guidelines said.
• "In case, they develop any symptoms, they shall inform the district surveillance officer or the state/national call centre (1075)," they said.
• Those found symptomatic will be isolated and taken to the nearest health facility and will be assessed for clinical severity at the health facility, the guidelines said.
• Those having moderate or severe symptoms will be admitted to dedicated COVID health facilities and managed accordingly, the guidelines said.
• Those having mild symptoms will be given the option of home isolation or isolated in the COVID Care Centre (both public & private facilities) as appropriate and tested as per ICMR protocol, they said.
• "If positive, they will continue in COVID Care Centre and will be managed as per clinical protocol. If negative, the passenger may be allowed to go home, isolate himself/herself and self-monitor his/her health for further 7 days," the health ministry said.
• In case, any symptoms develop they shall inform the district surveillance officer or the state or the national call centre (1075).

The ministry said that states can also develop their own protocol with regards to quarantine and isolation as per their assessment.

Guidelines for international arrivals, 14-day quarantine must

The Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare also come up with guidelines for international arrivals into India through air, sea and land routes, whereby it has said that every person entering India will have to undergo a mandatory quarantine of 14 days.

The quarantine period would include seven days of paid institutional quarantine at their own expense, followed by seven days of isolation at home with self-monitoring of health.

All travellers will have to give an undertaking for the 14-day quarantine before boarding a ship or a flight.

The ministry, however said that only for exceptional and compelling reasons such as cases of human distress, pregnancy, death in family, serious illness and parents accompanied by children below 10 years, as per assessment by the receiving states, home quarantine may be permitted for 14 days. In such an exceptional case, the use of the Aarogya Setu app will be mandatory.

Further, all inbound passengers shall be advised to download Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices, and at the time of boarding the flight or ship, only asymptomatic travellers will be allowed to board after thermal screening.

Passengers arriving through the land borders will also have to undergo the same protocol and only those who are asymptomatic will be allowed to cross the border into India.

A self-declaration form in duplicate shall be filled by the person in the flight or 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, the guidelines said.

Apart from the sanitization and disinfection of airports and flights along with maintenance of social distancing norms, the ministry has also suggested wearing masks, environmental hygiene, respiratory hygiene, hand hygiene among others for airline and ship crew and all passengers.

On arrival, thermal screening would be carried out in respect of all the passengers by the health officials present at the airport, seaport and Iandport.

The passengers found to be symptomatic during screening shall be immediately isolated and taken to a medical facility as per health protocol and remaining passengers shall be taken to suitable institutional quarantine facilities, to be arranged by the respective state and union territory governments.

In case of someone found to be coronavirus positive, they shall be assessed clinically, the guidelines said. If they are assessed as mild cases, they will be allowed home isolation or isolated in the Covid Care Centre, either public and private facilities, as appropriate.

"Those having moderate or severe symptoms will be admitted to dedicated COVID Health facilities and managed accordingly," it said.

The guidelines come as India is likely to open up inbound international travel in the next couple of months. All international travel has been suspended for over two months now as India went into a lockdown in March amid the coronavirus pandemic.

(PTI and IANS Report)