Across six railway stations (CSMT, Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra Terminus, LTT and Borivali), 2,12,010 passengers have been screened to date.IN 14 days since the state government announced a compulsory Covid-19 RT-PCR test for passengers travelling from Delhi, Rajasthan, Goa and Gujarat, over two lakh passengers have been screened at six railway stations in the city.
Between November 25 and December 8, 88 passengers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Across six railway stations (CSMT, Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra Terminus, LTT and Borivali), 2,12,010 passengers have been screened to date.
On an average, every day, 10,000 passengers alight at the six railway stations from Delhi, Goa, Rajasthan and Gujarat, and 2,000 to 2,500 are tested. The number of passengers testing positive for the virus, however, has remained low. At Mumbai Central, 62,425 passengers were screened till December 8, out of which 18 were found to be positive. At Dadar, 26 tested positive, followed by 25 at Bandra Terminus. At Borivali station, 68, 701 passengers were screened out of which nine tested positive.
After confusion and chaos in the first couple of days of the new rules coming into force, an additional support staff of five to six security guards were appointed at stations to monitor passengers coming from the four states, maintaining queues and guiding them for testing.
The state government rules entail that passengers arriving from the four states at the airport need to carry a negative report of an RT-PCR test done 72 hours before arrival, and at railway stations, a test 96 hours before arrival. Those not carrying this report have to be tested at the station or airport before they can be allowed to go home.
Testing at railway stations has also been quicker because only symptomatic passengers are directed towards testing booths unlike at the airport where each passenger, without RT-PCR report, is supposed to undergo a test.