JAIPUR: Making Covid negative report mandatory for passengers travelling on specified routes might be an additional burden on passengers, but at the same time it is proving helpful in detecting cases in the state. In the last few days, the health department has found infected passengers who were planning to travel to Mumbai from different parts of the state.
Most of the passengers were asymptomatic when they were found infected. “There was a person from Jawahar Nagar who was planning to go to Mumbai. Since it is mandatory for a person travelling to Mumbai to show a Covid negative report 72 hours before the journey, he underwent the test and was found positive. When we conducted contact tracing, his family’s four other members were found infected,” said a senior health department official in Jaipur.
At Balotra in Jaisalmer, another person planning to travel to Mumbai was also found infected with the virus. “Since he was found infected, he was not allowed to travel,” said a health department official.
Rajasthan is also not allowing passengers from Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab to enter the state without a Covid negative report. A health department official said mandatory negative report is also helping passengers travelling in flights a safe journey. “If a infected person is travelling in flights, buses or trains,there are higher chances of co-passengers contracting the infection. The mandatory negative report is beneficial in identification of infected persons and also it helps in containing the spread of the virus by contact tracing,” said an official.