Centres issues guidelines for domestic air travel; here's what you need to do

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on part of the central government, has issued guidelines for travelling in domestic flights across airports in the country

Domestic flight services have resumed in India on Monday, after about two months of suspension due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-necessitated nationwide lockdown. According to sources, the very first of these flights took off from Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi today at 5 AM and landed in Pune at 6:42 AM.

The new guidelines listed for domestic air travel are as follows:

• Dos and Don'ts shall be provided along with tickets to the travellers by the agencies
  concerned.
   
• All passengers shall be advised to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices.
• Dos and Don'ts shall be provided along with tickets to the travelers by the agencies concerned.
   
• Suitable announcement about COVID-19 including precautionary measures to be followed
  shall be made at airports/railway station/bus terminals and in flights/trains/bus.
   
• The States/UTs shall ensure that all passengers shall undergo thermal screening at the point
  of departure and only asymptomatic passengers are allowed to board the flight/train/bus.
   
• During boarding and travel, all passengers shall use face covers/mask. They will also follow
  hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene and maintain environmental hygiene.
   
• At airports/railway stations/ bus terminals required measures to ensure social distancing shall
  be taken.
   
• Airports/railway stations/bus terminals should be regularly sanitized/disinfected and
  availability of soaps and sanitizers shall be ensured.
   
• Thermal screening at exit point shall be arranged.
   
• Asymptomatic passengers will be permitted to go with the advice that they shall self-monitor
  their health for 14 days. In case, they develop any symptoms, they shall inform the district
  surveillance officer or the state/national call centre (1075).
   
• Those found symptomatic will be isolated and taken to the nearest health facility. They will
  be assessed for clinical severity at the health facility.
   
• Those having moderate or severe symptoms will be admitted to dedicated COVID Health
  facilities and managed accordingly.
   
• Those having mild symptoms will be given the option of home isolation or isolated in the COVID Care Centre (both public and private facilities) as appropriate and tested as per ICMR protocol available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/Revisedtestingguidelines.pdf.
   
• If positive, they will continue in COVID Care Centre and will be managed as per clinical
  protocol.
   
• If negative, the passenger may be allowed to go home, isolate himself/herself and self-
  monitor his/her health for a further 7 days. In case, any symptoms develop they shall inform
  the district surveillance officer or the state/national call centre (1075).
   
• States can also develop their own protocol with regards to quarantine and isolation
  as per their assessment.

On Monday, passengers were being screened using a thermometer gun before boarding the aircraft, while visuals showed Food & Beverage (F&B) and retail outlets opening at the IGI Airport as well.

Earlier, the central government had informed that domestic flight services will resume in India from May 25, while international flights are to start soon as well, as part of its gradual reboot of air travel services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

Confirming the development,  Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said, ''There's no contradiction between domestic flights beginning from May 25 and lockdown in India being imposed till May 31.''

The central government is also aiming to restart international flights by mid-June or July, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters, Puri asserted that the government will try to start a good percentage of international flights before August, if not the entire civil aviation.

Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in India crossed the 1.38 lakh-mark on Monday, while the death toll has topped the 4,000-mark as well.

Over the major part of the last week, the country marked significant and consecutive highest jumps in the COVID-19 tally.

Interestingly, even though the virus tally continues to spike, new guidelines issued by the central government pertaining to Lockdown 4.0 remain enforced. Several restrictions have been lifted, which includes permitting transport services, reopening of shops, and resuming online shopping. According to the central government's most recent order, all activities, except the ones "specifically prohibited", will be allowed in green, orange, red, and buffer zones, which continue to be classified by the States/UTs and district authorities.

It is now increasingly becoming likely that India, although well into the fourth phase of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-necessitated nationwide lockdown, is quickly becoming one of the biggest COVID-19 hotspots in the world.