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Mon, Dec 23, 2024 | Jumada al-Aakhirah 22, 1446 | DXB
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UAE-Maharashtra flights: 7-day institutional quarantine mandatory for passengers
Dubai - All passengers must undergo 7 days of institutional quarantine and 7 days home quarantine.
- By
- Dhanusha Gokulan
(Reuters file)
A mandatory seven-day institutional quarantine, which is being applied with immediate effect, has been enforced for passengers from the UAE travelling to Maharashtra, India, Khaleej Times has learnt.
The institutional quarantine will be followed by home quarantine for another seven days, Sukishini Paghare, deputy collector (land acquisition department), Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) told Khaleej Times.
An official with the Consulate General of India in Dubai confirmed the policy decision by the Maharashtra government.
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"These quarantine regulations are applicable only to Maharashtra for now and not for other states in India,” said Neeraj Agarwal, Consul --- Press, Information, and Culture, Dubai.
"The institutional quarantine will be in government-approved guest houses and hotels," he added.
“All passengers originating from the Middle East, including the UAE, will have to undergo seven days of institutional quarantine. This will be followed by another seven days of home quarantine. The rules apply to all passengers originating from Middle Eastern, European and African countries,” said Paghare.
She added, “Transit passengers originating from the United Kingdom (UK), if any, will have to undergo 14 days of institutional quarantine.”
Besides, passengers originating in or transiting through the UK won't be permitted to enter India between Wednesday and December 31 amid fears of a new mutant strain of SAR-CoV-2, which causes novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
“In case, a transit passenger has arrived from the UK, we will know based on the information available on the passport. The passenger will undergo 14 days of institutional quarantine,” she added.
Paghare said, “These regulations will be followed till December 31 and it is subject to change depending on the situation and how the viral spread will be brought under control in the UK.”
Cost of quarantine, RT-PCR tests to be borne by passengers
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai, authorities tweeted that the costs of quarantine and RT-PCR tests must be borne by passengers.
The tweet said, “If the passenger is found symptomatic on arrival, then he will be shifted directly to GT Hospital, Fort, Mumbai, for further evaluation and treatment.”
It said: “On arrival, no RT-PCR test will be conducted. However, the RT-PCR test will be conducted during the fifth to seventh day at the hotels at the cost of the quarantined passengers. If the report of the test is found negative, the passenger would be discharged from the institutional quarantine after five to seven days with the advice of another seven days of mandatory home quarantine.”
It added: “If the test result is found positive but the passenger is asymptomatic then h/she will be continued in the same hotel in quarantine or in a Covid-19 hospital for 14 days.”
Which UAE- Mumbai passengers are exempt from mandatory quarantine?
Also, as per a notice issued by the airport authorities on Tuesday, mandatory institutional quarantine for seven days may not be applicable for a certain category of passengers.
Following a verification at the airport, women in advanced stages of their pregnancy and those who have suffered a death in their family are exempt from mandatory institutional seven-day quarantine in Mumbai.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com
Dhanusha Gokulan
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