Assam, April 14: Assam government made it mandatory for all air passengers arriving in the state to undergo the rapid antigen test (RAT) which will be done free of cost. The order issued by the state health and family welfare came into force with immediate effect, officials said.
If a passenger test positive, he/she will have to undergo home isolation or get admitted to a private hospital or government health institution depending on his/her medical condition, the order said.
If an air passenger tests negative, then he/she will have to undergo a confirmatory RT-PCR test at the airport at the maximum approved rate of ₹500, it said.
After the RT-PCR sample is collected, the passenger will be allowed to leave the airport premises but will be required to be in quarantine till the test result is known. Hand stamping of the passengers after the sample collection must be done.
An undertaking in this regard will have to be furnished by each passenger, who can then continue with his/her normal activities in compliance with COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and norms, the order said.
There will be no exemptions from undergoing the tests and all earlier standard exemptions in this connection have been withdrawn, it added.
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Residents of other northeastern states who arrive in any airport in Assam airports from outside the state and are directly travelling onwards and all transit passengers of intra-Assam and inter-North Eastern states routes will be exempted from rapid antigen test (RAT) provided they are asymptomatic.
These passengers will be required to produce proof of address in the northeastern states. Any person violating these instructions will be liable to be prosecuted as per the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under Section 188 of IPC and other legal provisions, it said.
Assam’s total coronavirus positive cases so far are 2,20,893 with 2387 active cases. A total of 1118 persons have died due to COVID-19 and 2,16,041 persons have recovered so far.
