Maharashtra: Covid-19 report negative mandatory for train passengers to gain entry
Maharashtra has declared six states -- Delhi NCR, Kerala, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand as places of sensitive origin. The state government has also made it mandatory for all passengers coming from these states to produce a Covid-19 negative report to gain entry into the state.
"Passengers travelling to Maharashtra from the six states declared as the places of sensitive origin will need a RT-PCR negative test within 48 hours of their train travel," an order signed by Maharashtra chief secretary Sitaram Kunte said.
The western state is currently struggling to contain the huge Covid-19 surge. The decision was taken as a part of state government's measures to curb the transmission of virus and stop the influx of other virus variants from other locations.
"These places will be considered the places of sensitive origin from the date of this order till the time it is retracted or till COVID-19 stays notified as a disaster," it stated. If the passengers are not carrying the RT-PCR negative report, they will have to undergo a rapid antigen test at the station, it added.
On Sunday, Delhi recorded the biggest jump in its daily COVID-19 tally with 25,462 new cases, while the positivity rate shot up to 29.74 per cent. Maharashtra, which is the worst-hit state in terms of the number of cases and deaths, on Sunday reported the highest number of 68,631 fresh infections while 503 patients died. With this, the cumulative caseload in Maharashtra mounted to 38,39,338 while the death toll reached 60,473.
The Maharashtra government also issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for passengers from the six states of sensitive origin. For passengers travelling in long-distance trains from these places, the Railways shall share data of the trains that are scheduled to be running between these places and stations in Maharashtra with the local disaster management authorities, as per the SOPs.
The data of passengers will be shared with local disaster management authority each day, four hours before the departure from the origin of trains. No unreserved tickets will be issued from these places to Maharashtra.
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