Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Saturday, November 27, announced that all the passengers coming from South Africa to Mumbai will be mandatorily tested and quarantined.
However, if a passenger is tested positive for COVID-19 then the samples will be sent for genome sequencing.
This move comes after a new kind of coronavirus variant, named Omicron, has been detected in South Africa.
While talking to reporters, Pednekar said: "There is no restriction on outbound flights in any way. But this decision has been taken keeping in view of the past experience. There is an increased risk of coronavirus in foreign countries, so those coming from outside will have to undergo genome tests."
Pednekar further urged people to maintain social distance and wear masks so that this new menace can be stopped.
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Though, at present, no formal press release has been issued by the BMC or the Mumbai airport on quarantine rules for passengers arriving in Mumbai from South Africa.
Moreover, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has called a meeting of senior officials today evening, November 27, at 5 pm to discuss measures to deal with the new variant. In the meeting, they will also discuss testing and contact tracing of passengers coming from other countries.
Besides, a day earlier, on Friday, November 26, the BMC has now urged the Maharashtra task force members to ask for genome sequencing reports of passengers flying in from Europe, the USA and Russia.