Assam government to discontinue mandatory Covid testing at airports, other entry points

Assam government has decided to discontinue the mandatory testing for Covid-19 at airports, railway stations, other entry points and hospitals from Tuesday.

Assam’s Health and Family Welfare Department’s Principal Secretary Anurag Goel in a notification said that the Covid-19 positivity is gradually decreasing in the state and the country.

The notification said that the number of people vaccinated twice in the country has increased significantly and various relaxations have been allowed by Government of India and leading health institutions like AIIMS in New Delhi in view of the decreasing number of Covid cases and difficulties faced due to testing protocols in emergency departments.

“These instructions are issued in better public interest in view of the evolving situation of Covid pandemic and shall be liable for change if required as per the SOPS and guidelines issued by Government of India and eventual situation of covid-19 in the country and state,” it said.

The state’s daily positivity rate has been drastically reduced from 4 per cent to 0.83 percent during the past two weeks.

Of the state’s 7,23,495 Covid positive cases so far, the active cases on Sunday night stood at 2,499.