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Delhi airport random covid testing

Passengers will be tested for Covid randomly at Delhi airport. (Photo: Pixabay)

Random Covid testing of arriving passengers at Delhi airport

Passengers at Delhi Airport – arriving from states witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases – will be tested for Covid randomly and those found positive will be “mandatorily quarantined”.

“RT-PCR report is not required for domestic arrivals at Delhi Airport. As per the latest government mandate, District Disaster Management Authorities will conduct random COVID-19 testing of passengers coming from the states where the cases are increasing,” Delhi Airport said in a statement on Wednesday.

“After collections of samples, the travellers would be allowed to exit. However, those passengers who are found positive will be mandatorily quarantined as per the protocol of the ministry of health and family welfare,” it added.

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri reminded in a tweet: “Our fight against COVID continues. Advisory issued to all airports to ensure compliance with COVID19 Protocol. People must wear face masks (covering nose & mouth)& maintain social distance. We are moving in direction of punitive action by police against passengers who don’t comply. (sic)”.

The Delhi government had earlier declared that random testing of coronavirus will be held across airports, railway and bus stations.

Advisory has been issued to all airports to ensure compliance with COVID-19 protocol. Photo: Pixabay

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Meanwhile, the national capital recorded as many as 1,819 fresh infections on Wednesday, taking the cumulative count to 6,62,430. According to the health bulletin, 399 people have recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 6,42,565. The active number of cases in the national capital stands at 8,838. 

Meanwhile, India reported 53,480 new COVID-19 cases and 354 related deaths in the last 24 hours, according to Union Health Ministry. With this, the total active cases in the country crossed the 5.5 lakh mark.

The union health ministry on Wednesday informed that eight states accounted for 84.73 per cent of the COVID-19 cases registered in the country in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra continued to report the highest number of daily cases with 39,544.

The vaccination drive in the country for those above 45 years will begin from April 1.

Referring to a spike in cases, the centre on Tuesday said the situation in India is “going from bad to worse”. “Trends show the virus is still very active just when we think we can control it, it sparks back,” said VK Paul, chairman of the National Expert Committee on Vaccine Administration.