Omicron scare: Teams deployed at Telangana airport to screen passengers from 12 ‘at-risk’ countries

With the new International Travel Guidelines kicking in from Tuesday midnight, the Telangana Health Department deployed 10 teams at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) to track and trace international travellers, especially those arriving from the twelve at-risk countries. As of Wednesday noon, 18 international flights have arrived at RGIA and seven others are expected on time.

Meanwhile, all 200 passengers who arrived on a British Airways flight tested negative, informed airport officials. Although Hyderabad International Airport witnesses the arrival of nearly 5,000 international passengers every day, only a small per cent of them are from the at-risk countries where the Omicron variant of the virus have been reported, said an official.