Test must for travel from Kerala, Maha
NOIDA: Taking serious note of the rising number of coronavirus (Covid-19) cases, the Uttar Pradesh government has issued detailed guidelines for travellers from Maharashtra and Kerala -states with a high number of Covid-19 cases -- including mandatory testing.
According to the letter issued by Amit Mohan Prasad, the additional chief secretary (health), all those coming in from Kerala and Maharashtra are to undergo rapid antigen tests. If they have symptoms, they should undergo RT-PCR tests, the letter says. Such persons would have to remain in quarantine till their test results come.
“Those who test Covid-19 positive will be immediately sent to mandatory home or facility quarantine and their RT-PCR testing will also be done. The chief medical officers and surveillance units of all districts will properly display this message at all public places, prominently. In case of any emergency, the urban and rural vigilance committees will intimate the matter to their surveillance units of their districts concerned immediately. The officials will keep a close watch on the Covid situation and continue testing, tracking and treatment in an aggressive manner,” the letter stated.
GB Nagar District magistrate Suhas LY said: “I’ve asked all surveillance units and health officials to keep a strict vigil on all those coming from both states and immediately conduct their testing,” he said.
Meanwhile, as many as 3,062 health-care workers (HCW) in GB Nagar district out of the enlisted 3,502, who had received their first shot of the vaccine against Covid-19 on January 29, received their booster dose on Friday. Besides, 34 front-line workers (FLW) and 18 HCWS– whose names were recently uploaded on the CO-WIN app, were also vaccinated.
District vaccination officer Dr Neeraj Tyagi said that 609 health-care workers, who had missed their second dose in earlier sessions, were also inoculated on Friday, across the 46 inoculation booths at 24 health centres in the district. “All of the total 3,743 beneficiaries were administered the Serum India Institute’s (SII’S) Covishield on Friday. It was an open session where both FLWS and leftover HCWS could get vaccinated, including from other districts. Their data will be added to their respective districts,” he said.
He said that all backlog beneficiaries, who had received their first dose on January 16, 22 and 28, have now started coming to the inoculation centres to get their booster dose. “During Friday’s drive, no adverse event following immunization (AEFI) was reported. AEFI is any untoward medical occurrence which follows immunisation and reflects consequences for immunisation coverage and disease incidence,” he said.