Assam relaxes quarantine rules for air travellers coming from other states

Guwahati: The Assam government on Friday announced relaxations in its quarantine rules for air travellers coming from other states. Travellers who are cured of Covid -19 and have a negative certificate or discharge certificate from hospitals would no longer need to undergo any test or quarantine on arrival. Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Recovered Covid patients now need no further testing or quarantine on arrival in Assam. Negative passengers would no longer need 10 days of quarantine. This decision has been taken on the basis of scientific evidence. We are the first state in the country to introduce it but it will not be applicable if the passenger has temperature and other symptoms.”
The state government has developed a mobile app through which air passengers can fill up forms and show it at airports to avoid delay in completing formalities for Covid-19 tests, The app named '”Visitassam” has been developed to ensure that proper social distancing is maintained.

“The state government has also introduced a change of protocol for passengers arriving at the airport. They can now take the 'Tatkal RT-PCR' test on payment of Rs 2,200 and get the result within 24 hours,” he said.

Previously any air traveller staying beyond 72 hours had to undergo a mandatory quarantine after rapid antigen tests until the results of the RT-PCR tests arrived. Sarma said clinical trials have started in Guwahati for the vaccine. Assam is recording an average 2004 positive case daily. “If the trend regarding the number of cases is maintained, the death rate is also likely to come down in October,” Sarma said.

Around 3000 ASHA workers are conducting intensive awareness programmes on wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.