No COVID-19 test for children under five travelling to India: Govt

New Delhi: Children under five years of age are exempted from both pre-and-post-arrival testing upon arrival in India, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. However, if they are found to be symptomatic for COVID-19 on arrival or during the home quarantine period, they shall undergo testing and treatment as per protocols.

"Children under 5 years of age are exempted from both pre-and post-arrival testing. However, if found symptomatic for COVID-19 on arrival or during home quarantine period, they shall undergo testing and treated as per laid down protocol," the new Health Ministry guidelines said.

The Health Ministry said that the guidelines for international arrivals in India have been reviewed in view of increasing vaccination coverage across the globe and the changing nature of the pandemic.

"The global trajectory of COVID-19 pandemic continues to decline with certain regional variations. The need to monitor the continuously changing nature of virus and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) must still remain in focus," the guideline said.

This standard operating procedure (SOP) shall be valid from November 12 (00.00 hours IST) till further orders, the Ministry stated. The revised guidelines also state that 15 days must have elapsed since the completion of the COVID-19 vaccination schedule.

On arrival, de-boarding should be done, ensuring physical distancing and thermal screening of all passengers is carried out by the health officials present at the airport.

Contacts of suspected cases are co-passengers seated in the same row, plus three rows in front and three rows behind, along with identified cabin crew.

Also, all the community contacts of travellers who have tested positive would be subjected to quarantine for 14 days and tested as per the Indian Council of Medical Research`s protocol, the guidelines stated.