Rajasthan to test foreign travellers for Covid-19 after quarantine

Non-resident Rajasthanis travelling from abroad are put in seven days each of institutional quarantine and home quarantine.

The Rajasthan medical and health department announced on Wednesday that it will test all foreign travellers arriving in the state for Codi-19 after they complete seven days of institutional quarantine.

The government took the decision after it found that many tested positive when they reached their home districts after spending seven days in institutional quarantine. (Representative image/Bloomberg)

“It has been observed that many of these people tested positive when they reached their home districts after spending seven days in institutional quarantine,” said an order by Rohit Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary of health department,

Non-resident Rajasthanis travelling from abroad are put in seven days each of institutional quarantine and home quarantine.

“For prevention for Covid-19 infection, spread and to break the chain of infections, it has been decided in public interest that every foreign traveller will be tested for coronavirus disease before going in home quarantine,” said the order.

Meanwhile, 355 new cases were reported on Wednesday, taking Rajasthan’s Covid-19 tally to 11,600, even though the number of active cases was only 2,772. Four deaths were also reported on Wednesday. The Covid-19 death toll in Rajasthan now stands at 259.

Earlier, health minister Raghu Sharma said cases had soared in the last eight days and the department was looking into the reasons for it.

“Our recovery rate is 75%, which is heartening, but the rise in numbers is worrying,” he said. The minister said Rajasthan’s doubling rate was 22 days, which was better than the national average of 16 days.