Mumbai:

All international passengers arriving from the United Arab Emirates to Mumbai will have to undergo a mandatory seven-day quarantine, the city’s civic body said today, as airports across the world see a massive holiday rush despite fears over the Omicron variant. 

RT-PCR Covid tests, considered to be much more reliable than other tests, will be mandatory for these passengers, it has further been underlined. 

Last week, the civic body had made these tests mandatory for passengers landing in the city from Dubai, which has now been extended to the entire UAE. 

Mumbai, India’s financial capital, is yet again witnessing a spike in Covid cases. In the last 24 hours, the city logged 2,510 fresh infections –  an 82% jump over yesterday’s cases. 

Across the city, all public places remain shut on December 31 to check the spread of the virus amid New Year’s celebrations. 

“As the cases are rising rapidly, we urge everyone not to panic. However, we all must exercise extreme caution and ensure that we are vaccinated and masked up,” Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray said today. 

Earlier in the day, the state’s Health Minister Rajesh Tope had warned about fresh restrictions. 

“It is worrying to see the number of active cases increasing in the State. Mumbai’s positivity rate is at 4 per cent. If this goes above 5 per cent, then we will have to think about imposing restrictions,” he told reporters.