The Assam government, on September 25, issued a fresh set of guidelines for air travellers.
Health minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that in order to prevent overcrowding in airports, the government has launched a new website, visitassam.org.
Passengers can now fill all necessary forms on the website prior to travel and the soft copy or hard copies of the same can be shown to the airport authorities.
Further, facilitating smoother travel of air passengers, certain rules have been relaxed.
Now, any person coming to Assam by air need not undergo 10 days mandatory home quarantine if found negative in both antigen and Rt-PCR test. While the antigen screening results are delivered immediately, the results of RT-PCR test usually take 4 to 5 days to be delivered.
However, passengers may pay Rs. 2200 at Sarusajai center to receive immediate results of the RT-PCR test.
According to the order, the following Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will be applicable for persons arriving in Guwahati by air:
1) A person will have to undergo Rapid Antigen Test at designated testing centre after he / she disembarks. The Kamrup (Metro) district administration will make necessary arrangements in this regard.
2) If the Rapid Antigen Test result is positive, the person shall undergo home isolation / treatment in COVID Care Centre or hospital, as per protocol.
3) If the Rapid Antigen Test result is negative, his / her swab sample would be taken for RT-PCR testing. The following two options will available for RT-PCR testing:
a. Free RT-PCR test: This will be arranged by State Government and the test result will normally be available within 3-5 days of the collection of swab sample at the designated testing centre. The person will have to remain in isolation in his / her residence etc., for a period of 5 days or till declaration of the test result, whichever is earlier. Accordingly, the person will be hand stamped during collection of sample and home isolation notice will be pasted in person's residence.
b. Paid RT-PCR test: This will be done by agencies at the designated testing centre on payment of the requisite fee, as may be stipulated from time to time. The test result will be provided by the agency within 24 hours. The person will have to remain in isolation in his / her residence till the declaration of the test result. The person will accordingly be hand stamped. However, pasting of home isolation posters will not take place.
4) If the RT-PCR test result is positive, the person shall undergo home isolation / treatment in COVID Care Centre or hospital, as per protocol. However, if the RT-PCR test result is negative, the person is free to carry on his activities, without any further quarantine.
5) Even after the first RT- PCR test result is negative, a person will continue to monitor his health for next 14 days and report to the nearest hospital in case of emergence of any symptoms.
This order will come into force with effect from 26 September 2020.
Also, people who have recovered from COVID-19 need not undergo screening or further testing on travelling to and from Assam (both by air or rail). However, such people have to submit their Covid-19 positive certificate or hospital certificate. The same can be uploaded on the visitassam.org website. This facility is also applicable to people who travel from other states to Assam.
