Muscat: Indian nationals from Oman and other foreign countries who need to take connecting flights to reach their final destination back home can now get tested for COVID-19 on landing in India, before taking their domestic flight.

This was announced by the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation, primarily as a method to screen those passengers who were unable to get tested for the coronavirus up to 96 hours before boarding their flight to India.

“Per the extant guidelines, there is no provision for RT-PCR testing at the entry airport itself, if the passenger couldn’t get the same done within 96 hours prior to undertaking the journey from abroad,” said a circular from the Ministry of Civil Aviation. “To facilitate such transfer passengers, it has now been decided to allow for RT-PCR testing at the entry airport also, on a pilot basis.”

According to the instructions issued, passengers will have an option of getting an RT-PCR test done at the entry airport. Negative results mean passengers can then take their onward domestic connecting flight.

To enable testing at the airports, a testing/waiting area is to be set up. Passengers must also be given the chance to book their RT-PCR testing service online, to reduce wait times at testing areas. A helpdesk must also be set up to answer passenger queries accordingly.

Passengers who test positive will be processed in line with guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

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