New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS): With the government making efforts to airlift Indian as well as Afghan nationals from the war-torn Afghanistan, a 14-day quarantine has been made mandatory for all the evacuees landing at the IGI Airport here.

All the evacuees coming from Afghanistan will have undergo quarantine for 14 days at the ITBP quarantine centre at Chhawla in southwest Delhi, according to the guidelines of the Health Ministry.

RT-PCR tests were conducted on 78 Indian and Afghan nationals returning from Afghanistan on Tuesday. None of the reports have returned positive so far. Yet, all will need to undergo the 14-day mandatory quarantine period.

The move came after two evacuees tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday. As the threat of a possible third Covid wave looms, the move will ensure that positive cases, if any, coming from Afghanistan are taken care of.

Amid the ongoing chaos and unrest in Afghanistan, the Indian government is continuously engaged in evacuating Indian nationals stranded in the war-torn nation.

Accordingly, a special Air India flight from Kabul landed at the IGi airport here on Tuesday carrying 44 Afghan Sikhs, who brought three copies of Guru Granth Sahib with them.

One of the evacuees, Shifa, said, "We are thankful to the Indian government and particularly to the Indian Air Force for the safe evacuation."

Shifa, who belongs to Goa, has been taken to the ITBP quarantine centre.