Mandatory COVID-19 test for Mumbai, Bengaluru passengers arriving in Assam

A day after Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that there is no COVID19 in the state and hence no need to wear mask now the health and family welfare department on Sunday issued fresh notifications for mandatory testing of air and train passengers coming to the state from Mumbai and Bengaluru to check the spread of virusSeparate orders have been issued for air and train passengers and the rates for COVID19 testing by the departments Principal Secretary Samir SinhaThe minister had on Saturday said that there is no COVID19 in Assam and so there is no need to wear a mask now which triggered widespread criticismSubsequently Sarma tweeted those who are making fun of my statement on mask must come to Assam and see how we have contained COVID19 in comparison to states like Delhi Kerala and Maharashtra along with an impressive recovery of our economyWe will celebrate Bihu also with the same enthusiasm this year he addedBihu the Assamese New Year is on April 14According to the order issued all air passengers from Mumbai and Bengaluru disembarking in any airport of Assam will mandatorily need to carry a negative RTPCR report conducted within 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey and the test report should be verifiable using QR code or otherwiseAirlines would allow boarding to only those passengers at Mumbai and Bengaluru who are carrying the negative RTPCR test reportAny passenger from these two cities who arrive without satisfactory RTPCR test report will have to undergo paid COVID19 testing at the airport and will wait in designated location inside airport premises at his own expense till the test result is availableIf the test is positive the passenger will have to shift to home isolation or hospital according to the treatment protocol and this order comes into force from April 9All passengers arriving in trains originating from or transiting through Maharashtra andor Karnataka will undergo screening for symptoms on arrival in railway stations in AssamAll symptomatic passengers will undergo COVID19 test and there will also be random Rapid Antigen Test of passengers from among those found to be asymptomaticIf the test is positive the passenger will be shifted to home isolation or hospital as per treatment protocol and this order comes into force with immediate effectRegarding contact tracing of COVID19 positive patients an order passed to ensure that at least 20 to 25 contacts should be identified who have been exposed to the infected individualApart from rapid antigen test RTPCR test should also be carried out for the identified contact in case the rapid test is negative the order statedThe health department has also fixed the maximum rates chargeable by NABL National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories and ICMR approved private sector laboratories in the state and this ranges from Rs 500 for RTPCR samples collected at the labs Rs 750 for samples collected from home and Rs 250 for rapid antigen testThe maximum rate chargeable for RTPCR test at the airports in the state has been fixed at 500 for all approved laboratoriesAssam reported 68 new cases during the last 24 hours with no deaths taking the total COVID positive cases to 218601 and the death count to 1107There are currently 598 COVID cases in the state with 215549 recovered patients discharged so farThe state has so far conducted 7271998 cumulative testsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever