New Covid variant: Maharashtra issues SOPs for passengers from Europe, South Africa, Middle-East. Details Here
The Maharashtra government on Thursday issued a fresh circular for passengers arriving from Europe, South Africa and the Middle-East. According to the new guidelines, the passengers will not be subjected to RT-PCR test for coronavirus immediately upon arrival.
The circular amended the Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) issued for dealing with passengers arriving from these regions on December 21 following the detection of a new variant of coronavirus in the UK.
New SOPs: Key Takeaways
- Seven-day institutional quarantine has been made mandatory for asymptomatic passengers arriving from Europe, South Africa and the Middle-East. Symptomatic passengers would be immediately shifted to designated hospitals.
- The circular said that no RT-PCR test will be conducted on arrival for asymptomatic passengers. The test will be conducted at the hotel where the passenger is quarantined between 5th and 7th day, it said, adding that the cost of test will be borne by the passenger.
- If the report is negative the passenger will be discharged from institutional quarantine but he or she will have to stay in isolation at home for further seven days.
- If the result is positive but the patient is still asymptomatic, he or she will stay in institutional quarantine at the same hotel or at COVID-19 hospital for 14 days, the circular said.
Maharashtra's COVID-19 case tally on Wednesday reached 19,06,371 as it recorded 3,913 fresh cases, said a health official. The state also reported 93 fatalities during the day, taking the death toll to 48,969, he said.
A total of 7,620 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the tally of recovered people to 18,01,700. With this the number of active patients is 54,573.
(With PTI Inputs)
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