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India-England flights resume from January 8, 11 flights every week from Mumbai


India-England flights resume from January 8, 11 flights every week from Mumbai
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India had suspended all flights from Britain from December 22 until the end of the month with the new variant of the COVID-19 getting detected in the UK which triggered widespread concern and travel restrictions across the globe. Later the ban was extended till January 7, 2021.

The government has now announced that it will be lifting these restrictions. Three major carriers namely, Air India, Vistara, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have been given a go-ahead to operate 30 weekly flights between India and UK till January 23.  Post this period, the government will be reviewing the frequency of the flight.

This announcement has come a day after the government announced the SOPs for passengers arriving in India from Great Britain. All passengers that will be coming to India will have to produce a negative Covid-19 certificate from a test done within 72 hours prior to the journey.

Furthermore, people will be subjected to a self-paid COVID-19 test on arrival in the country. “Passengers testing positive shall be isolated in an institutional isolation facility in a separate (isolation) unit coordinated by the respective state health authorities,” it stated.

 During this time frame, there will be12 flights weekly to and from the UK to Delhi, followed by Mumbai at 11, Bengaluru at 4 and Hyderabad at 3. 

Meanwhile, with over 1,000 cases of the variant discovered in the UK, scientists are puzzled to determine if the variant, named as VUI-202012/01, represents an increased health risk especially when some nations has now begun administering vaccines among people.

Maharashtra Health Minister, Rajesh Tope has confirmed that eight passengers who have returned from the UK have tested positive to the new strain in the state. Five of these are from Mumbai while one each is from Pune, Thane and Mira Bhayander. He even mentioned that the contact tracing is underway and the state is leaving no stone unturned to keep this strain under control. 

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