Those not carrying the reports will have to undergo the test at the landing airport at their own cost.The Maharashtra government on Monday made it mandatory for all passengers coming in from Delhi NCR, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Goa to procure a Covid-negative certificate to gain entry into the state.
The state government has issued a new set of rules, according to which domestic passengers travelling via trains or flights will need to carry a RT-PCR negative test report with them before entering the state.
Those coming via air will have to show the negative test report to airport officials before boarding the flight. The RT-PCR sample collection should have been done within 72 hours of the scheduled landing in Maharashtra. Those not carrying the reports will have to undergo the test at the landing airport. While the airport authorities will arrange for the tests, the passengers will pay for them.
Meanwhile, all passengers travelling to Maharashtra by trains originating or having halts at stations in Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat or Goa need to carry a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 96 hours before arrival in Maharashtra.
Passengers not carrying the report shall be screened for symptoms and body temperature at the alighting railway stations. Those without symptoms will be allowed to enter the state, while those who display symptoms will be made to undergo Rapid Antigen test.
The rules are relaxed for those travelling by road. Passengers entering the border will be screened for symptoms, including body temperature. Those without symptoms will be allowed entry, while those who display symptoms will be made to undergo a Rapid Antigen test.
The state government’s circular came hours after the Supreme Court sought a status report from governments of Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Assam on steps taken to control the spread of the coronavirus infection. The pandemic situation in Delhi has “worsened” and it has gone “out of control” in Gujarat, the Supreme Court had said.
While fresh cases of coronavirus infections continue to decline — or remain stagnant — in the worst-affected states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and even Himachal Pradesh have been seeing a significant rise in active cases.
At least five persons died due to COVID-19 every hour on an average in Delhi in the last 24 hours, accounting for the largest chunk of such fatalities across the country, PTI reported. Gujarat, on the other hand, reported 1,495 fresh coronavirus positive cases, taking the total count of infections to 1,97,693. The biggest rise in active cases in the last two weeks has come in Rajasthan – an increase of more than 5,600 — followed by Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
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