All air passengers arriving at any airport in Assam to undergo mandatory Covid-19 tests

April 13: In partial modification of earlier Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for persons arriving in Assam by air, certain new measures were announced by the Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of Assam on 13 April, 2021. Any person violating these instructions will be liable to be prosecuted against as per provisions of section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under section 188 of IPC, and other legal provisions as applicable. This order comes into force with immediate effect.

• All air passengers arriving in any airport in Assam will have to mandatorily undergo Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) at the airport. No fees is payable by the passengers for RAT.
• If the RAT is positive, the passengers will have to undergo home isolation or get admitted in private hospital or Government Health Institution, depending upon his/ her medical condition.
• If the RAT is negative, the passenger will have to undergo RT-PCR test at the airport on payment basis as per the approved rate (present maximum rate is Rs 500/-).

After the RT-PCR sample is collected, the passenger will be allowed to leave the airport premises subject to the condition that he/ she will remain in quarantine till the RT-PCR test result is declared. Hand stamping of the passengers after RT-PCR sample collection is to be done.

• If the RT-PCR test is positive, the passenger will have to undergo home isolation or get admitted in private hospital or Government Health Institution, depending upon his/ her medical condition. An undertaking as in Annexure-I will have to be furnished by each passenger.
• If the RT-PCR test is negative, the passenger can continue his/her normal activities subject to compliance with COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and norms.
  There will be no exemptions from the above mentioned tests in case of any passenger arriving in Assam and all earlier standard exemptions in this connection are hereby withdrawn. However, (a) residents of North Eastern States other than Assam, who are arriving in any airport in Assam from outside the State and are directly travelling onwards to any other North-Eastern States, and (b) all transit passengers of Intra-Assam and inter-North Eastern States routes, shall be exempted from testing, provided they are asymptomatic. Such passengers will be required to produce proof of address in the North-Eastern States.

In partial modification of our earlier instructions, now all air passengers arriving in any air ports of Assam will have to mandatorily undergo Covid 19 test (both RAT and RTPCR) excluding the transit passengers

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) April 13, 2021