India puts flyers from Brazil, South Africa, Britain under scanner for Covid-19 strain

Centre has asked airlines to segregate passengers from Brazil and South Africa so that they could be subjected to self-paid confirmatory tests for the disease

India has stepped up surveillance on travellers from Britain, South Africa and Brazil as more infectious variants of the coronavirus from these countries were detected from across the country.

According to the new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for international travellers, the government has asked airlines to segregate passengers from Brazil and South Africa so that they could be subjected to self-paid confirmatory tests for the disease.

The new SOPs will come into effect from 23.59 hours on February 22 till further orders.

“All the travellers arriving from/transiting through flights originating in the United Kingdom, Europe or the Middle East shall be mandatorily subjected to self-paid confirmatory molecular tests on arrival,” Ministry of Health said in a statement.

India has reported at least four cases of the South African strain, one case of the Brazilian strain and 187 cases of the Britain strain of the virus.

Health officials said the South African and Brazilian strains can more easily infect a person's lungs than the UK variant of the coronavirus.

The government has asked airlines to identify the international travellers arriving from/transiting through Britain, Brazil and South Africa (during past 14 days) and segregate them in-flight or while disembarking to facilitate the authorities to follow the due protocol in respect of these travellers.

India does not have direct flights from Brazil and South Africa, and most people travelling from these countries generally transit through Middle Eastern airports.

All passengers will also have to carry a recent Covid-negative report before boarding any flight to India, except in extraordinary circumstances like death in a family.

The government has suspended international scheduled flights till February 28. Overseas flights to and from India are currently operated as per air bubble agreements with various countries.