Key Points:
- Passengers arriving from Europe and the Middle East will have to undergo 7 days of compulsory institutional quarantine.
- Passengers who are residents of other states outside Maharashtra will be allowed to leave the airport and go to their destinations.
MUMBAI: The BMC on Tuesday issued fresh guidelines for passengers arriving from Europe and the Middle East. According to the BMC’s protocol, passengers landing in the city from these countries Wednesday onwards will have to undergo 7 days of compulsory institutional quarantine at designated hotels.
“Passengers from these countries will have to undergo 7 days of compulsory institutional quarantine. They will be tested between the 5th and 7th day and if their Rt-PCR test report is negative they will be allowed to go home. They will however be advised to undergo 7 days of home quarantine,” said Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health).
“However passengers who are residents of other states outside Maharashtra will be allowed to leave the airport and go to their destinations. We will take all information of these passengers like vehicle number, address in the other state and inform the Chief Secretary of the concerned state.
They will be allowed to travel to other states. However for passengers who are residents of Maharashtra, there will be compulsory 7 days institutional quarantine,” Kakani said.
Deputy Municipal Commissioner Anil Wankhede said that passengers who land in Mumbai but are residents of outside Maharashtra who have onward flights will be allowed to take their connecting flights provided they are carrying a recent negative Rt-PCR test report with them.
According to the BMC, on Tuesday 591 passengers arrived on three flights from the UK on Tuesday. All passengers arriving from the UK who were residents of Maharashtra were moved to hotels for 7 days of institutional quarantine.
“We have moved around 300 passengers from the UK to hotels for 7 days institutional quarantine. They will be tested between the 5th and 7th day and then be allowed to go home if their Rt-PCR test is negative. Of these 591 passengers, 236 were from outside Maharashtra and they have been allowed to go to their destinations. 299 passengers have been sent to institutional quarantine at designated hotels,” Wankhede said.
“The hotels range from Rs 1,000 to Rs 4,500 per night per room and this price includes three meals and one evening tea. People can choose the hotels based on their affordability. We have earmarked enough rooms. We have an arrival of around 2000 passengers from Europe and the Middle East everyday,” Wankhede said.
30 engineers from the BMC have been deputed to facilitate the institutional quarantine at the airport and manage arrival of passengers.
