Coronavirus: International travellers to be tested at Mumbai airport from 25 December

Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) on Friday said from Saturday onward, 2 percent of the international passengers arriving at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport would undergo post-arrival testing. Issuing a statement, it said, “Such travellers will be identified by their respective airlines and guided by the airline staff to a dedicated area at the Terminal for their RT-PCR tests. Passengers are required to submit the samples and continue with their onward journey. The lab shall make provisions to send the digital copy of the test results to the passengers directly.

The RT-PCR testing facility for international arriving passengers at CSMIA is located in the international arrival concourse, in the pre-immigration area, after the health screening counters. The testing facility will be available around the clock, free of cost for passengers who have been randomly selected by the airlines," it said.The Mumbai airport has put together measures to curb the spread of the virus based on the latest guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

Following a spike in cases in China, Japan, and the United States of America, the Union government issued guidelines on 20 and 22 December.The civic organisation claimed that its two hospitals, Seven Hills (1,700 beds) and Kasturba (35 beds), as well as four state-run hospitals, Cama (100 beds), St. George (70 beds), Tata (16 beds), and Jagjivan Ram (12 beds), were caring for COVID-19 patients in the city.