Passengers from the Europe, UK, Middle East, South Africa and Brazil will no longer have to undergo the mandatory week-long institutional quarantine on arrival to Mumbai if they have received both doses of Covid vaccine, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in an order issued on Saturday night.
On request of senior citizens and medical professionals travelling to attend to critical patients among others, the BMC issued the updated quarantine guideline for international passengers.
In addition to those vaccinated, the BMC will also exempt international passengers from institutional quarantine under six other categories – medical professionals travelling to attend to critical patients aged over 65, women in the advanced stage of pregnancy, both parents accompanying children below 5 years of age, passengers with serious illnesses requiring immediate medical attention, extreme family distress condition i.e. immediate family member in critical condition and severe accident/death in the immediate family.
“Passengers from these categories may be considered for exemption from seven-day institutional quarantine, subject to providing required documents to the satisfaction of the officer-in-charge at the airport,” read the BMC guideline.
Medical professionals, who intend to travel for life-saving surgery or attend to critical patients, are exempted from institutional quarantine if they furnish proof from the hospital where they are to perform the surgery or provide medical service.
The exempted passengers will have to follow the remaining rules such as following social distancing and wearing masks in public places.
Earlier to this guideline, government officials, officials from the embassies, women in the advanced stage of pregnancy and travellers with death in the immediate family were considered for exemption from mandatory institutional quarantine.
The BMC had made seven-day institutional quarantine mandatory for passengers from the Europe, UK, Middle East, South Africa and Brazil since December 21 last year. If they test Covid-positive after seven days, passengers have the option of being shifted to private hospitals unlike before when they were shifted to isolation facilities at GT Hospital or Seven Hills Hospital.
Passengers can now opt for private hospitals such as Bombay Hospital, Raheja Hospital, Hinduja Hospital and Reliance Hospital.
