India ends Covid-19 testing requirements for international travellers

Health ministry guidelines say travellers should be fully vaccinated and follow preventive measures

International travellers to India from Thursday, July 20, will no longer be randomly tested for Covid-19, according to government guidelines issued on Wednesday.

As yet 2 per cent of a random set of international travellers have to take the RT-PCR test for the disease.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s (MoHFW) decision to ease guidelines for international passengers comes at a time when daily active Covid-19 cases have dropped globally and "significant achievements" in vaccination coverage globally. India has administered over 2.2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses to its eligible citizens.

The ministry said that travellers should preferably be fully vaccinated and follow preventive measures such as using masks and physical distancing during transit.

“Any passenger having symptoms of COVID-19 during travel shall be isolated as per standard protocol,” its guidelines said.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, in May announced an end to Covid-19 as a global health emergency.

The disease infected nearly 767 million people globally and claimed the lives of 7 million, according to the WHO COVID-19 dashboard.