Delhi Airport to randomly test passengers for COVID-19, mandatory quarantine for those found positive

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Delhi airport on March 31 announced that Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will randomly test passengers arriving in the city for COVID-19. The move comes after Delhi reported a surge in daily coronavirus cases.

Taking to Twitter, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said, "DDMA shall conduct random Covid-19 testing of passengers coming from states where the cases are rising."

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While the passengers will be allowed to exit after the collection of samples, those who later test positive will be mandatorily quarantined.

"After collection of samples, the travellers would be allowed to exit. However, the passengers who are found to be positive shall be mandatorily quarantined as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare protocol," DIAL said in a note.

Kind attention to all the domestic flyers arriving to #DelhiAirportpic.twitter.com/nnsh1AFDCB

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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— Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) March 31, 2021

Delhi reported 992 fresh COVID-19 cases on March 31 with a positivity rate of 2.70 percent, while four more persons succumbed to the pathogen, the Health Department said.

The city had recorded 1,904 cases on Monday, the highest in around three-and-a-half months.

Last week, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain had ruled out the possibility of another lockdown being imposed in Delhi, saying it was not a solution to check the spread of coronavirus.

Health experts and doctors have attributed this "sudden rise" in cases to people turning complacent, not following COVID-appropriate behaviour and "assuming all is well now".

Click here for Moneycontrol's full coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak