New SOP for visitors comes into force today

NT NETWORK

Panaji

Even as the number of COVID-19 cases in Goa is rising, the state government has come up with a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for travellers which will come into force from Thursday.

This new SOP makes it mandatory for a person entering the state to undergo 14-day home quarantine along with his family, if he prefers not to undergo COVID-19 test.

Announcing the new SOP, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said that those who opt for undergoing the COVID-19 test on their arrival in Goa will have to stay in an institutional quarantine till their results are declared.

He said all those persons entering the state will have to go through a thermal scanner and if they are found to be symptomatic, they will be isolated and a test would be conducted on them. “The new SOP was designed after the testing facilities started getting stressed due to the increasing number of people arriving in the state,” Sawant said.

He said those who do not have a home in Goa or do not have proper facility at home will have to stay in a paid institutional quarantine

facility with their family.

“Those who produce a COVID-19 negative certificate issued by Indian Council of Medical Research-approved lab and procured 48 hours before their arrival will be allowed to go to their home,” the Chief Minister said.

He also clarified that travellers coming from abroad including seafarers will have to undergo a compulsory test and paid quarantine till their test reports are declared.

“If test reports come negative, they can go for 14-day home quarantine with family. The other option is seven-day institution and seven-day home quarantine,” he said.