New Delhi: As if there was an Apocalypse. Chaos and commotion surmounted Indira Gandhi International airport in Delhi as fliers had a harrowing time waiting in long queues for their RT-PCR tests.
With no social distancing in sight, concerns for Omicron variant has risen manifold forcing government to mandate stricter guidelines for international fliers.
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As per the Centre’s new travel guidelines issued earlier last week, passengers coming ‘at-risk’ nations have to compulsory undergo PCR test and two per cent of passengers arriving from other countries would have to take the test on a random basis. The passengers will have to wait for the results before leaving the airport or taking a connecting flight, the guidelines said.
These rules were aimed at combating the spread of the ‘highly transmissible’ Omicron variant, but purported pictures going viral on social media clearly showed complacency among people. The airport authorities can be seen struggling to enforce social distancing as people squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder to get their COVID test results.
Taking to Twitter, people narrated their ordeal and shared pictures of the jam-packed airport. “IGI Airport at 5 am, seems all flights for the day arrive at the same time. Finding Omicron is sure going to be like finding a needle in a haystack”, one of the flyers tweeted.
The airport looked like railway station, where no social distancing was seen at sight. People tweeted expressing their concerns as the country has already reported 21 Omicron cases. Some even called the airport a 'Covid Hotspot' following today's commotion.
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