India allows fully-vaccinated travelers from 99 nations, including Bahrain, to skip quarantine

Hindustan Times | New Delhi

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Travellers from 99 countries, who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus disease (Covid-19), have been exempted from mandatory quarantine on arrival in India, according to a recently updated notification by the Union government.

These countries, which include Bahrain, US, UK, France, Germany and Israel, among others, have been listed under ‘Category A’ in the government notification.

Although travellers from these 99 nations have been exempted from mandatory quarantine, they will be required to follow certain norms that remain the same for all travellers.

Countries that feature in the ‘Category A’ list

As many as 99 nations are included in the ‘Category A’ list as mentioned in the notification by the central government.

Bahrain, United States, Great Britain, Israel, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium, Bangladesh, Finland, Croatia, Hungary, Russia, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey and Nepal are some of the countries that feature in the list.

Fully vaccinated travellers from ‘Category A’ countries are exempted from compulsory quarantine.

However, they must self-monitor their health for the 14 days starting from the date of arrival in India.

If they develop signs and symptoms of Covid-19 or test positive for the infection on re-testing, “they will immediately self-isolate and report to their nearest health facility or call National helpline number (1075)/State Helpline Number,” the notification noted.

Travellers, who are partially vaccinated or not vaccinated against Covid-19, must submit their sample for testing on arrival in India.

They also need to undergo home quarantine for seven days, take a Covid-19 test again on the eighth day, and if found negative, “further self-monitor” their health for the next seven days.

Countries categorised as ‘Countries at-risk by India

As many as 10 countries feature in this list, including South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Zimbabwe, Singapore, New Zealand, Mauritius, Bangladesh and the UK.

Guidelines for travellers from nations ‘Considered at-risk but feature in ‘Category A’ list

Singapore, Zimbabwe and the UK are three nations that are considered at risk by India and yet feature in the ‘Category A’ list. However, travellers from these countries will still be exempted from mandatory quarantine and will be permitted to leave the airport on arrival in India, with the requirement to self-monitor their health for the next 14 days.

Duration Covid-19 relaxations effective for the 99 countries

According to the government notification, the relaxations have been effective since November 12 and will remain in place till further orders. However, based on “risk assessment” the guidelines will be reviewed from “time to time.”