The government said 90% of the total tests for UK passengers will be through rapid antigen testing and the rest through the gold standard RT-PCR method. (File) With the state reporting a consistent drop in new Covid infections, the West Bengal government on Sunday relaxed its guidelines for international air passengers, saying all but those arriving from the UK will not be tested for the virus nor be quarantined upon their arrival at the Kolkata airport.
Until now, all passengers who tested positive were quarantined for seven days. The government said 90% of the total tests for UK passengers will be through rapid antigen testing and the rest through the gold standard RT-PCR method.
Meanwhile, the state reported 27 deaths attributed to Covid and 512 new cases at a positivity rate of 1.42% in the last 24 hours. With these, the total caseload increased to 20,10,901 and the toll to 21,017.
Of the fresh deaths, Kolkata alone recorded 22 deaths followed by two each South and North 24 Paraganas, Paschim Bardhaman and Birbhum. North 24 Paraganas and Kolkata recorded the highest number of fresh cases at 84 and 62.
Of the total 12,643 active cases, 11,774 are in home isolation and another 156 in safe homes. As many as 1,326 Covid patients were declared recovered, taking the total to 19,77,241 at a rate of 98.33%.
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