Table of Contents
What has happened?
- After multiple warnings of “reciprocal action” against the UK over the country’s rigid vaccine travel norms,
- New Delhi on Friday made it mandatory for UK passengers to undergo a 10-day quarantine irrespective of their vaccination status.
- All passengers from the UK to India now have to carry a negative RT-PCR report and stay in mandatory quarantine for 10 days after arrival in India.
- This decision comes weeks after India remained engaged with the UK to recognise Covishield as a legitimate anti-Covid vaccine as the new UK travel rules made quarantine and negative Covid-19 test mandatory for travellers from India.
- The new travel guidelines will come into effect from October 4 and will be applicable to all UK nationals arriving from the UK.
India’s new guideline
- From October 4, all UK nationals arriving in India from the UK, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to undertake the following measures:
- Pre-departure Covid-19 RT-PRC test within 72 hours before travel
- Covid-19 RT-PCR test on arrival at airport
- Covid-19 RT-PCR test on Day 8 after arrival
- Mandatory quarantine at home or in the destination address for 10 days after arrival in India
- The home ministry and civil aviation ministry will be taking steps to implement the new measures.
What is the travel row all about?
- The United Kingdom announced changes in its travel and quarantine rules in last week of September.
- The UK’s fresh international travel norms essentially considered fully vaccinated Indians as “unvaccinated” and made it mandatory for them to quarantine for 10 days on arrival in the country.
- India was left out of the 18 countries on an approved vaccinations list, requiring Indians to follow rules set out for “non-vaccinated” travellers.
- Later UK, included Covishield in the list but did not give approval to CoWin certificate which testifies the vaccination status of someone who has received the jab in India.
- So basically things remained the same.
Why not UK & India resolve this issue?
- Several rounds of meetings took place between Indian and UK representatives and one was attended by National Health Authority chairman RS Sharma and UK high commissioner Alex Ellis.
- After the meeting, both expressed satisfaction and said there seems to be no problem regarding Covishield or the certificate.
- Reports said India is mulling to add the full date of birth on the certificate for people travelling abroad.
- However, the ‘reciprocal’ move indicates that the issue over Covishield has not been resolved.
- India strongly condemned the move of the UK government as it clarified that there is no problem with either the Covishield vaccine or the vaccine certificate.
- Covishield is a formulation of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine which India also exported to the UK and the certificate conforms to all standards stipulated by the World Health Organization, the government said.
conclusion
- As the health ministry will enforce the new guideline specific to UK travellers, all states and UTs that have international airports and thereby may receive flights from the UK have been alerted.
- The integrated disease surveillance programme Officers in the States have been informed because they will be monitoring the home quarantine and the 8th day test.
- All port health organisations and Airport health organisations have been informed as they will also be a critical part of the implementation at the entry level.
Q) Which of the following lake zones has phytoplanktons in abundance?
- Littoral zone
- Benthic zone
- Limnetic zone
- Profundal zone
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