As passengers from the United Kingdom landed in Delhi on Friday, 8 January, Indira Gandhi airport tweeted a clarification of the updated COVID-19 testing and isolation rules stating that RT-PCR tests, which could take up to 10 hours, were mandatory for all arriving passengers. It also said that all people arriving from the UK have to mandatorily quarantine in an institution for seven days.
In its tweet, the Delhi Airport added that the cost of the test was to be borne by the passenger, and all COVID positive and negative passengers had to adhere to seven days of institutional quarantine, followed by seven days of home quarantine.
This development came after the Government of Delhi issued a statement on Friday announcing the change in rules, even as an Air India flight bearing 246 passengers had already arrived in Delhi.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet said that this was to “protect Delhiites from exposure to the virus from UK.”
Total Chaos: Passengers at Delhi Airport
Speaking on the atmosphere at the airport, Sourav Dutta, one of the passengers, told NDTV, "There is total chaos right now. We are inside a lounge... lots of security staff outside. We are being treated like we are in a cage and hotels are trying to make this a business by offering deals for quarantine. We took our flight yesterday... there were no such guidelines.”
A number of passengers voiced their grievances on Twitter and tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Air India in their tweets, NDTV reported.
Harpit Thakkar tweeted, “It’s absolutely manic at the airport,” adding that the SOP had failed to mention institutional quarantine for people who had tested negative.
(With inputs from NDTV.)
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