Omicron alert: Regular international flights' return under review

The Union health ministry has asked states to ramp up health infrastructure, testing, and genome sequencing activities

The central government on Sunday decided to review the decision on resuming scheduled commercial international passenger services amid a worldwide alert on the risk posed by the new coronavirus variant of concern, Omicron. 

It also issued fresh guidelines on international arrivals. The guidelines, which will come into effect from December 1, mandate submitting 14 days travel details and uploading a negative RT-PCR test report on the Air Suvidha portal before the journey. The health ministry also asked travellers from countries ‘at risk' to take Covid test post-arrival and wait for results at airport. If they test negative, they will undergo