The West Bengal government has made it mandatory for international passengers from seven more countries to undergo RT-PCR tests for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on arrival in the state. The new rule will come into effect from Wednesday and even apply on passengers who are fully vaccinated.
These countries are Bangladesh, China, South Africa, New Zealand, Mauritius, Zimbabwe and Botswana, according to a state government official who spoke to news agency PTI.
The decision was taken after a meeting on Tuesday to review the Covid-19 situation in the state. The rule is already in place for passengers from the United Kingdom and Brazil.
As per the decision, the testing would be a paid service at the Netaji Subhas Chandra International Airport in Kolkata. If any passenger wants a free service, he or she would be sent to Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in the city, according to officials.
The order, however, doesn't mention anything about where these passengers will stay till the results of their RT-PCR tests are out.
West Bengal reported 601 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, which took the overall tally to 15,53,177. Seven persons succumbed due to the infection after which the death roll reached 18,522, according to state government's health bulletin.
{{/usCountry}}West Bengal reported 601 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, which took the overall tally to 15,53,177. Seven persons succumbed due to the infection after which the death roll reached 18,522, according to state government's health bulletin.
{{/usCountry}}In the last 24 hours, 687 patients recovered from the disease in the state taking the total number of cured people to 15,26,268. The discharge rate improved slightly to 98.27 per cent.
On Tuesday, 5,25,409 vaccine doses were administered in West Bengal and the number of people getting the vaccine has reached 4,46,52,376, a health department official said. The number of active cases in the state is 8,387.