FRESH COVID-19 SURGE: Dispur issues fresh guidelines for air and train passengers

GUWAHATI: With fast rise in fresh COVID-19 positive case in different parts of the country as well as Assam, the State Health & Family Welfare department has issued a slew of new guidelines to contain spread of the virus.

As per the new guidelines all passengers from Mumbai and Bengaluru disembarking in any airport in the State will mandatorily need to carry a negative RT-PCR report, conducted within 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey.

Airlines will allow boarding only to those passengers at Mumbai and Bengaluru, who are carrying the negative RT-PCR test report. Any passenger from Mumbai and Bengaluru who arrives in the State without satisfactory RT-PCR test report will have to undergo paid COVID-19 testing at airports and wait as the designated location inside the airport premises at his own expense till his test result is available. If the test report is positive, the passenger will shift to home isolation or hospital, as per the treatment protocol. The maximum rate chargeable for RT-PCR test in the airports across the State is fixed at Rs 500.

On the other hand, all passengers arriving in Assam by trains originating from or transiting through Maharashtra and Karnataka will undergo screening for symptoms on arrival in railway stations in the State. All symptomatic patients will undergo COVID-19 tests, as per protocols. There will also be random Rapid Antigen testing of passengers from among those found to be asymptomatic.

While the new guidelines for the air passengers will come into effect from April, 9, 2021, the guidelines for train passengers will be implemented with immediate effect.

Contact tracing of those found COVID-19 positive will also be started.

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