Centre Exempts Olympic Returnees From RT-PCR Test

The Health Ministry official, however, said that only those individuals who have returned negative in the saliva-based test prior to their departure to India will be allowed to board the flight.

Athletes, officials and media returning to the country from Tokyo Olympics will not be required to produce RT-PCR negative test reports for COVID-19 before their departure from the Japanese capital, the Government of India said on Sunday. The decision was intimated in an official letter by Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare after the Indian Olympic President Narinder Batra had earlier in the day requested the government to exempt returnees from the Tokyo Games to produce RT-PCR negative report before boarding their flights. The Health Ministry official, however, said that only those individuals who have returned negative in the saliva-based test prior to their departure to India will be allowed to board the flight. Besides, all those returning from Tokyo will be retested upon landing in India.