COVID-19: Assam govt issues new SOP for air & rail passengers

Oct. 31: The state government in Assam has issued revised guidelines for passengers travelling to and from Assam by both air and railways. This was announced by State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during a press briefing at Janata Bhavan, Guwahati on Saturday.

The following are the important points in the revised guidelines issued by the government of Assam:

• In partial modification of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for persons arriving in Assam from outside the State, the Government of Assam in Health & Family Welfare Department has decided that any person, who has undergone a RT-PCR COVID-19 test within a period of 72 hours prior to arrival in Assam and his/ her test result is negative, is not required to undergo the mandatory COVID-19 test or quarantine on arrival in Assam. This exemption is subject to production of satisfactory documents and verification of the test result on the ICMR portal.
• Any person who travels to any location outside Assam and returns back to the state within 24 hours of the departure, need not undergo either testing or quarantine.

According to the new SOP for incoming air & train passengers, as issued by GoA, any person who has undergone a RT-PCR #COVID test within 72 hours prior to arrival in #Assam & result is negative, is not required to undergo any mandatory test or quarantine. #AssamCares

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) October 31, 2020

• In partial modification of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for person arriving in Assam from outside the State, the Government of Assam in Health & Family Welfare Department has decided that children below 10 years of age arriving in Assam are exempted from undergoing mandatory COVID-19 test, subject to the condition that the child is asymptomatic. However, a parent/ guardian may opt to get his/ her ward tested for COVID-19 at the designated testing centre, on voluntary basis.
• In partial modification of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for persons arriving in Assam, the Government of Assam in Health & Family Welfare Department has decided that persons belonging to the following categories are exempted from the COVID-19 testing and quarantine, subject to the compliance with COVID-19 hygiene and social distancing norms during the period of staying Assam :

1. Foreign dignitary/ diplomats belonging to any Embassy or Diplomatic Mission in India on an official visit.
2. Officials of multilateral funding agencies like World Bank, ADB, JICA etc. on an official visit.
3. Officials of investigation/ intelligence/ agencies such as National Investigation Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, Intelligence Bureau etc. on official/ covert visit.
4. Officials of Income Tax Department on official visits.