New Delhi, January 8: The Delhi government on Friday made a seven-day institutional quarantine mandatory for people arriving from the United Kingdom even if they tested negative for coronavirus. The announcement was made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on his official Twitter handle amid rising concerns of new UK coronavirus variant. The development came on the day when India resumed partial flight services to and from the UK.

Notably, the passengers have to undergo home quarantine for seven more days after the institutional quarantine, Kejriwal tweeted, “To protect Delhiites from exposure to virus from UK, Del govt takes imp decisions. All those arriving from UK, who test positive will be isolated in an isolation facility. Negative ones will be taken to a quarantine facility for 7 days followed by 7 days home quarantine.” Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine Effective Against New Coronavirus Variant Found in Britain and South Africa: Study.

Tweet by Arvind Kejriwal:

The first Air India flight after the resumption of flight services with 246 passengers on board landed in Delhi on Friday. The Civil Aviation Ministry on January 1, announced the resumption of flight services between India and the United Kingdom from January 8, 2021. However, flight operations will remain restricted to 15 flights per week each for carriers of two countries to and from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad only.

India on December 22, suspended all flights to and from the United Kingdom till December 31 in the wake of the new mutant strain of novel coronavirus. The ban was further extended on December 30. Till now 82, people in India have been tested positive for the new UK variant of coronavirus.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 08, 2021 04:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).