The UP Additional Chief Secretary (Health), Amit Mohan Prasad has said that the state may make the COVID-19 test mandatory for visitors from Kerala and Maharashtra in its bid to tighten restrictions in the wake of increasing cases.
Prasad, in his letter, suggested that the symptomatic passengers should undergo an RT-PCR test and all passengers arriving from Kerala and Maharashtra be tested for coronavirus through an antigen test. The letter was addressed to the state government and said that surveillance measures were going to increase for visitors from these states.
All passengers arriving in the state via rail routes shall follow the same protocol. The government will get information about passengers coming by rail route or via buses etc. from the concerned transport authority and will monitor and test the passengers as per the requirement,” said the letter.
The letter also mentioned that instructions were going to be made to put promotional material in all the districts of the state. It would also mention the contact number of the Chief Medical Officer of the district and the District Surveillance Unit.
It is in line with the decision of some other states that have made a COVID-19 test mandatory for passengers arriving from states that are seeing a surge in cases recently.
To keep the pandemic situation in check, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Friday 24 deputed high-level multi-disciplinary teams to such states to support them for adequate public health measures for coronavirus management.
The central ministry also suggested that all the states and union territories conduct a regular critical review of the coronavirus situation with district officials so that the progress made in terms of the COVID-19 response was not lost.
