Omicron: India lists Bangladesh among 'at risk' countries

Indian government released new guidelines on listing nearly a dozen "at risk" countries including Bangladesh soon after the reported case of a man who returned from South Africa to India's Maharashtra tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday (November 28).

It is, however, not confirmed whether the patient was carrying the Omicron variant of Covid-19, Hindustan Times reported.

As per the new guidelines, the UK, entire Europe and 11 countries - Bangladesh, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel - are "at risk".

Passengers travelling from or transiting through 'at-risk' countries will have to undergo an RT-PCR test on arrival in India and will be required to wait for the results before leaving the airport or taking a connecting flight, according to revised guidelines issued by the Health Ministry.

Travellers who test positive will be taken to a medical facility for isolation, where they will need to stay till they test negative if they indeed are infected by the Omicron variant. If they are infected by any of the other variants, their release will be at the discretion of a doctor based on their condition.

For people who test negative after coming from the listed countries, they will need to be in-home quarantine and take another test on the eighth day. If they are positive, they will need to report to the Covid-19 helpline, the guidelines said.

These travellers will also have to declare their travel history for the last 14 days.

The world's second-worst pandemic affected country has also removed the exemption for vaccinated people.

Earlier on Saturday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told officials to review plans to ease travel restrictions as concerns rise over the new Omicron variant.

After a long hiatus of more than 20 months, Indian government announced the resumption of scheduled international commercial flights from 15 December. Flights are currently on under bilateral bubble arrangements with countries.

The new coronavirus variant was first detected in southern Africa and has since spread to a number of countries.

At least nine countries have confirmed detecting the super mutated strain as of Sunday. The B.1.1.529 variant was designated as a "Variant of Concern" by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.

As governments worldwide have begun pulling down the shutters to contain the new coronavirus variant Omicron, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of Bangladesh on Sunday announced a set of guidelines to control and prevent the variant.