COVID-19: India adds Ghana and Tanzania to list of 'at risk' countries amid Omicron scare

India on Monday added Ghana and Tanzania to the list of "at risk" countries, passengers from where have to follow additional COVID-19 testing and quarantine measures.

The Aviation Ministry said on Tuesday that the list of "at risk" countries was updated on Monday.

Countries in Europe, including the UK, and South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tanzania and Israel have been placed in the "at-risk" category, the Aviation Ministry noted.

Delhi had reported its first case of the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus on Sunday with a 37-year-old fully vaccinated man, who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania, testing positive.

The patient, a resident of Ranchi, had travelled from Tanzania to Doha and from there to Delhi on a Qatar Airways flight on December 2. He stayed in Johannesburg, South Africa, for a week. The person has mild symptoms.

According to the Union Health Ministry's guidelines that came into force from December 1 following the emergence of the Omicron variant, all passengers coming from "at-risk" countries have to compulsorily undergo RT-PCR test and two per cent of passengers arriving from other countries would have to take the test on a random basis.

The passengers will have to wait for the results before leaving the airport or taking a connecting flight, according to the guidelines. 

Image: PTI, Pixabay