New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told the Lok Sabha on Thursday that the latest coronavirus variant, Omicron, is "definitely a hindrance" for resuming foreign travel.

"Omicron' is undoubtedly a setback," he stated in response to a query during Question Hour. As a result, various governments have devised various criterion to deal with it. Our country has designated 11 countries as "at risk." The "at risk" countries are the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Israel.

In response to another question from Congress MP Manish Tewari, he said that the World Health Organization and the International Air Transport Association collaborate to develop a standard air travel protocol. "At the moment, we have air bubble agreements with 31 countries, and we have a plan to initiate air bubble agreements with ten more countries," he said in response to a query on the current state of air bubbles during Covid-19.

He also stated that, as of Wednesday, the government had adopted new regulations, requiring passengers arriving from certain countries to undergo an RT-PCR test at the airport as well as a required seven-day home quarantine. The passenger will undergo another RT-PCR test on the seventh day, and will only be allowed to move freely after receiving a negative report.

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