Mandatory isolation for international fliers into Mumbai from tonight

After the state government made institutional quarantine mandatory for passengers from lsquoatriskrsquo countries the BMC allowed a twoday window saying many have already started their journey The quarantine will begin at 1159 pm today Thursday Meanwhile domestic fliers who arrived on Wednesday said there was confusion among passengers while boarding the flight due to Maharashtrarsquos revised COVID19 test guidelinesThe state governmentrsquos new rules for domestic fliers created a lot of confusion said passengers who arrived at the Mumbai airport on Wednesday Amid the fear of Omicron the new Coronavirus variant a negative RTPCR test has been made mandatory for anyone travelling to the city from other statesPeople queue up at the checkin counter at Mumbai international airport File picSatej ShindeMany passengers took to social media platforms to express their anger claiming that there was no clarity Sources from the airport told midday that for now some people with double vaccination certificates were allowed to leave the airportSanjay Patil who arrived from New Delhi on Wednesday told midday ldquoI heard about the new rules when I landed in Mumbai but my experience so far was goodThey checked my double vaccination certificate and let me leave In order to prevent any confusion the concerned agencies should update the latest developments on their websites and also on their social media handlesrdquoPassengers wait to enter the Mumbai international airport on November 30 PicSameer MarkandeHowever a group of four people who arrived from Kolkata said ldquoThere was a lot of confusion among many travellers coming to Mumbai because of the Maharashtra governmentrsquos new rule Thankfully we already had RTPCR test results for our trip abroad early on Thursdayrdquo A negative RTPCR test is also mandatory for travellers taking a connecting flight from MumbaiA Twitter user Akshay Patil posted ldquoFully Vaccinated PCR negative before boarding and after arrival still 7 days of institutional quarantine How idiotic New way of extortionBMC Mumbaiairport OmicronVariant CSMIArdquoAnother user Ayush Shrivastava tweeted ldquoCMOMaharashtra AUThackeray PMOIndia JM_Scindia Can you please explain why there are different regulations for international passengers arriving to Mumbai airport and need to do the 7 day institutional quarantine Except Maharashtra no other state had implemented such rulesrdquoThe Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport CSMIA stated that domestic passengers travelling within Maharashtra either need a full vaccination certificate or should have a negative report of RTPCR test conducted within 72 hours of arrivalFor travellers arriving at Mumbai airport from other states a negative report of RTPCR test conducted within 72 hours of arrival is mandatory irrespective of their vaccination statusThe CSMIA has directed the domestic airlines to not board passengers for landing in Mumbai without a negative RTPCR test report In exceptional cases like family distress testing may be allowed on arrivalInstitutional quarantine begins from tonightAfter the state government made institutional quarantine mandatory for fliers from lsquoatriskrsquo nations the BMC gave them a twoday window It will begin at 1159 pm on December 2 ldquoSeveral passengers have already finalised their travel plans and are on the move and many might not be aware of the recent guidelines To avoid major inconveniences a window of two days is to be givenrdquo said a civic officialPassengers arriving from lsquocountries at riskrsquo have to undergo institutional quarantine for a week and take RTPCR tests on the 2nd 4th and 7th days postarrival As per an updated list the European nations the UK South Africa Brazil Botswana China Mauritius New Zealand Zimbabwe Singapore Hong Kong and Israel have been designated lsquoatriskrsquo countries Fliers from other nations shall undergo home quarantine for 14 days if tested negativeldquoAt present international fliers arriving in Mumbai have to undergo rapid antigen test and if the results are negative they are being allowed to go homerdquo said a source A Correspondent