Muscat: An Indian national who recently travelled to India to visit his family following the relaxation of COVID protocols in his home country has shared his experiences on how the updated measures have made travel easier.
Manoj Kumar, an Indian from the eastern state of Odisha who works in Oman, travelled to India this weekend on annual leave, after the government scrapped the requirement for fully vaccinated travellers to take a PCR test before boarding their flight.
“That, to be honest, is the best piece of news I have heard in a long time, because taking a PCR test is quite strenuous,” he said. “Previously, you needed to come to the clinic for your test, wait for a long time to get tested and then wait once again to receive your test report when you have many other things to handle before leaving.
“You are also on tenterhooks until such time as you receive the result: You never know if you are going to test positive, which means you have to scrap your entire travel plans,” he added. “Rebooking your ticket fares, organising another PCR test and arranging transportation when needed can be a costly affair for a lot of people.
“It also means that I don’t have to spend the OMR15 or so required for a PCR test: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted a lot of us financially and money is tight for everyone,” said Kumar. “This is particularly welcoming for blue-collar workers, whose primary concern is getting money back to their families at home.”
Although Muscat International Airport was rather empty when Manoj went to the check-in desk, that was not the case when he arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Dehli, his first point of arrival in his home country.
There were only two or three people ahead of him using the e-gate in Muscat, with security screening afterwards a breeze. The entire process – from check-in to security screening – took only about 45 minutes. Conversely, clearing immigration in New Delhi took him nearly 2 hours: People who could not visit their families for so many years because of the stringent COVID-19 protocols took advantage of the updated requirements to fly to India.
“Immigration in New Delhi was packed,” he said. “I saw a lot of foreign visa holders at the airport: They probably came to the country because the old rules made it quite tough for them to travel in and out of India, particularly in cases of work.
“In India, your vaccination state is not checked at the airport: It is assumed that your vaccine status has been verified in your country of departure,” added Manoj. “If you aren’t fully vaccinated, you will of course not be allowed to board your plane without a PCR test.”
“My family is very happy to see me, as I am sure are the hundreds of thousands of mothers and fathers, sons and daughters and husbands and wives who are now eagerly waiting for their family members to come home to see them after more than two years of being apart,” he said.
