Negative RT-PCR report mandatory for those coming to UP from states with high positivity rate

The Uttar Pradesh government has made it mandatory for travellers from states with higher positivity rate to produce a negative RT-PCR report.

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government has made it mandatory for passengers, coming in from other states with a high caseload, to carry their RT-PCR negative report. The state government said that the report should not be more than four days old. However, people who have been administered both doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be exempted from this rule.

The rule will not only be applicable to people coming by air, rail and road but also to those using private vehicles, the government spokesman was quoted as saying by IANS. 

The decision to make RT-PCR report mandatory, for people coming from other states, comes amid a high positivity rate in some cities of Maharashtra and Kerala.

Reports reveal that some areas of Maharashtra including Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Buldhana, Pune (rural), Palghar and Raigadh have recorded test positivity rate higher than 4.5 percent. Likewise, the positivity rate in Kerala has been hovering around 10 percent.

The development also comes a day after the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government announced the suspension of the proposed ‘Kanwar Yatra’ following a call by the Kanwar association in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The chief minister said the community should take decisions on issues pertaining to faith. "The feeling of Kanwar association should be respected," he added.

The chief minister has directed officials to ensure contact tracing and testing of people coming from states with high positivity rate. He said these people should be subjected to antigen test and thermal scanning on arrival in UP.

According to officials, the state is determined not to lower the guard as it gears up for a possible third wave of coronavirus pandemic, which is said to affect the children.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh on Sunday recorded 56 new COVID-19 cases and 69 recoveries. Seven more people succumbed to COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh, bringing the death toll to 22,721, while the infection tally climbed to 17,07,847 on Sunday, according to an official statement. The count of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 1,260.

(With IANS inputs)