Foreign teams participating in Junior Hockey WC exempted from quarantine

Foreign teams that will land in India for next month's FIH Men's Junior Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar have been exempted from quarantine and will only be required to monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms during the stay.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare decided on a request by L S Singh, Joint Secretary in the Sports Ministry, earlier this month.

The Health Ministry, however, stated that all the arriving teams will have to follow necessary health safety COVID-19 protocols.

The FIH Men's Junior World Cup will be played at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from November 25 to December 5. Hosts India is the defending champions.

Some of the mandatory protocols which the visiting teams need to follow are pre-arrival RT-PCR COVID-19 tests for all participants, conducted within 72 hours of departure, and mandatory on arrival test at the airport for teams coming from Europe and the Middle East.

''All the participants will self monitor health for 14 days after arrival in India and if they develop any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, they will isolate themselves and report the same to the event organizers/nearest COVID health facility/National or State helpline,'' Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal, said in his letter addressed to Singh.

Besides, all participants will have to minimize public interaction and follow COVID-appropriate behavior, like wearing masks, maintaining physical distancing, maintaining respiratory and hand hygiene throughout the tournament.

The letter further states that in case any participant develops symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 during their stay in India, he would be subjected to RT-PCR tests and his contacts will be quarantined by the Department of Sports.

Besides India, other participating teams are Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Africa, Egypt, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, USA, Canada, Chile, Argentina, and Poland.

Poland has replaced England, which withdrew from the tournament because of COVID-19 related travel restrictions.

While withdrawing, England had also taken note of the quarantine requirements in India for British nationals after similar restrictions were placed on even fully vaccinated Indians arriving in the UK.

The two countries subsequently withdrew the stiff isolation policies.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)