Srinagar: J&K Government has ordered that all people returning from a foreign visit, including tourists arriving from abroad, be put under quarantine till their “on-arrival” COVID19 test reports are available. Facilities for isolation of positive cases were also designated today.
In wake of the cases of Omicron variant of COVID19 being reported from a number of countries, J&K Government today initiated the implementation of the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare earlier in the week.
A senior official in the health and medical education department said that the fresh measures for timely identification of Omicron variant include mandatory RT-PCR test of all people with a foreign travel history. The travelers will be allowed to leave the quarantine facility when their test reports are “available and negative”. In case a traveler is found positive, he/she will be sent to DRDO COVID19 hospital for observation and treatment and their samples sent for genomic sequencing to
INSACOG Labs to find out if they are infected with the Omicron variant.
Additional Chief Secretary J&K Government (Health and Medical Education), Vivek Bhardwaj said the public and private facilities have been identified for quarantine and isolation. He said the measures that the government has taken are in conformation to MoHFW guidelines and that instructions had been issued on 29 November for preparation of quarantine and isolation facilities that may be required in view of the threat of a new variant of concern. “We have adequate infrastructure in place to ensure that we have a vigil and adequate surveillance of all travelers,” he said. The ACS stressed on the need to reveal “complete travel history” in the self declaration form that would be required to be filled in by the travelers.
Director Health Services Kashmir, Dr Mushtaq Ahmed said Marriage Hall Sanat Nagar would serve as the quarantine facility for people with foreign travel history. “They will be tested and till their RT-PCR reports are not available, they will need to quarantine at this facility,” he said. He said for travelers who would wish to have a paid quarantine, three hotels, of various categories, had been identified in Srinagar. “They can choose and stay at one of these private facilities till their test reports are available,” he said. Dr Ahmed said the Health Department had made arrangements for sampling and other logistics at the Airport. “These measures have been taken to help J&K stay clear of the threats of new variants and public cooperation is very important in this regard,” he said.
Director Health Services said that all travelers with a foreign visit history will be subjected to testing upon arrival “irrespective of vaccination, or pre-departure testing. “GoI has ordered that all travelers arriving from abroad have to be sampled upon landing and we cannot let anyone leave the quarantine till their reports are available,” he said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Hanif Balki said four hotels had been notified and will be available for quarantine of travelers. The hotels are Hotel Shah Abbas, Hotel Shehenshah, Hotel Aabe Hayat and Hotel Park. He said Hajj House Srinagar had been kept on standby in case additional space is required for accommodation of travelers.
Balki said more hotels were being added to the list and those property owners desirous of offering their spaces for quarantine could contact DC Office Srinagar. At present Srinagar has only one direct International flight connection to Sharjah UAE. However, a health official said that many travellers, who have recently returned from outside the country, before the fresh protocols were implemented, would also be put under surveillance.