Omicron in India: TN airports mandate COVID test for passengers from 11 'at risk' nations

Amid the threat of the new COVID variant, Omicron, state governments have already started taking preventive measures for avoiding the spread of the virus. As a part of it, the Tamil Nadu government has started mandatory testing of passengers arriving from 11 countries categorised as "at risk", at the Chennai, Madurai, and Coimbatore airports.

Informing about the same, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma. Subramaniam said, "The airports in Chennai, Madurai, and, Coimbatore have started compulsory testing of passengers arriving from 11 'at risk' countries where Omicron variant of coronavirus is spreading rapidly."

The 11 countries placed under the 'at risk' category and further witnessing a rapid spread of the virus are the United Kingdom, South Africa, Botswana, Brazil, Zimbabwe, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Israel. The list was earlier provided by Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday to the Parliament.

The Health Minister along with a team of officials paid a visit to different airports across the state for inspecting the preventive measures carried out for Omicron control.

Apart from that, the Tamil Nadu government has also implemented a fresh set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the wake of the virus. The SOPs which came into effect on December 1 mandates RT-PCR test reports for International passengers arriving from 'at risk' countries.

Random sampling will be also conducted on the passengers coming from other countries. Concerned officials have also been instructed to restrict the movement of non-vaccinated people across the state and further get them vaccinated as soon as possible.

Omicron variant in India

Earlier on Thursday, the Union Health ministry confirmed two cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Karnataka, creating a situation of concern for health authorities as well as the government. Earlier, the first variant was reported from South Africa on November 25 after which the number of cases has now increased to a great extent and spread across several other countries.

As a result, many countries have already imposed travel restrictions on passengers coming from African nations. Similarly, the Indian government has also implemented guidelines for international airports and passengers across the country. 

Image: PTI/ANI