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With the emergence of COVID-19 Omicron variant cases, Jammu and Kashmir government, in its advisory, said that international travellers from 'at risk' nations, who test negative at the Srinagar airport, will have to home quarantine for seven days.
After the eighth day, the travellers will also have to undergo another COVID-19 test, and have been advised to "monitor themselves carefully for at least two weeks". Further, the travellers from other countries who test negative at the airport, as per the order of Jammu Kashmir's Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (JK DMRRR), will just have to "monitor themselves carefully for at least two weeks". The principle of "Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate" would also be implemented in the Union Territory to ensure "stringent implementation of containment measures" as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare guidelines, and to prevent the spread of Variants of Concern/Variants of Interest (VoC/VoI) and formation of clusters of cases. "Rigorous screening and conduct of COVID-19 RT-PCR test shall be made mandatory at the Srinagar International Airport for International Arrivals as per the guidelines issued from time to time by MoHFW," the order read. As per the order, the travellers who test positive would be sent for institutional quarantine and treated as per standard protocol. "The samples of positive cases shall be sent to the designated INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLs) promptly," the DMRRR said. "Close tracking and testing of the contacts of travellers who have tested positive, as per MoHFW guidelines shall be adhered to," it added. Union Health Minister Manuskh Mandaviya said on Friday that RT-PCR tests have been done of 16,000 passengers from 'at risk' countries and 18 samples have been sent for genome sequencing to determine if they have Omicron variant of the virus or not. He said there are 373 cases of Omicron, classified as a variant of concern by WHO, in 29 countries. India is conducting RT-PCR tests of passengers from "at risk" countries and revised guidelines have been issued for travel from these countries. The new variant of COVID-19 was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. As per the WHO, the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on November 9 this year. (ANI)
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