West Bengal makes RT-PCR report mandatory for unvaccinated flyers

File Photo (Credits: Twitter/@AAI_Official)

New Delhi: The West Bengal government on Monday (July 19, 2021) wrote to the civil aviation ministry saying that all passengers flying to the state, on both commercial and non-commercial flights, will have to produce either a certificate that shows they are fully vaccinated or a COVID-19 negative (RT-PCR) test report. 

Flyers need to produce proof of their full vaccination or a COVID-19 negative test report at the time of boarding and the RT-PCR test must be conducted within 72 hours of the departure of the flight.

West Bengal Home Secretary BP Gopalika said that the decision will be implemented with immediate effect.

#TravelAlert:As per latest guidelines of West Bengal Govt, all in bound flight passengers(commercial & non-commercial flight)shall produce at time of boarding either proof of full vaccination or RT-PCR negative test report for test conducted within 72hrs of such flight departure. — Kolkata Airport (@aaikolairport) July 19, 2021

As of July 19 at 7:00 AM, India has administered 40,64,81,493 doses, of which, 8,35,37,057 people have received the second dose.

Meanwhile, West Bengal recorded over 660 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and has so far seen 15,18,847 infections. The state also registered 12 fresh coronavirus-related fatalities that took the death toll to 18,011. West Bengal currently has 13,111 active cases of COVID-19.