Nepal mulling over resumption of flights to India from October 17

Nepal has proposed resumption of flights to India from October 17. According to reports, Nepal's Civil Aviation Ministry sent the proposal to the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC), which upon acceptance would see flight between the two countries resume after roughly 7 months. Nepal blocked all flights to and from India back in March after the country entered into a nationwide lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Strict health protocols proposed

Nepal’s Joint Secretary of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry Kamal Prasad Bhattarai told ANI: "We have proposed resumption of flights from October 17, the proposal has been sent to the CCMC for consideration but we are yet to receive any response. Once they decide over the date we can further sort out the number of flights and permits to be issued”. Bhattarai also added that once the proposal is accepted then air operations will resume with adherence to the health protocol.

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As per reports, once the proposal is accepted it will then go to the cabinet for final approval. The health protocol listed in the proposal would be similar to those for people arriving in Nepal from different nations.

According to the existing protocol, all passengers entering Nepal via airways must present a negative RT-PCR test result for COVID-19 and the date of the test should not exceed 72 hours prior to the time of boarding. Moreover, foreigners entering Nepal are mandated to quarantine themselves for 7 days in a hotel while Nepali citizens returning from India must quarantine themselves for 14 days at homes.

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Nepal has so far reported more than 82,000 positive coronavirus cases and has a death toll of more than 500 people. The COVID-19 pandemic which saw its first outbreak in a wet market in Wuhan, China last year has now spread all across the world.

The virus, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation, has infected over 34.7 million people worldwide with the global death toll reaching over 1 million. As per John Hopkins coronavirus resource centre, the US has reported more than 7.2 million positive COVID-19 cases and a death toll of over 200,000.

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(With ANI Inputs, Image:Pixabay)