Kokrajhar: The Assam government on Wednesday made COVID-19 tests mandatory for people entering the state, but the state remained unsafe as two points along the border with West Bengal, Srirampur and Chagolia-Boxirhat continued to be open for traffic without any mandatory COVID tests.
As per the Assam government's rules, all incoming people have to undergo the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) and the
RT-PCR test on their arrivals.
Officials from both Kokrajhar and Dhubri districts (as Srirampur and Chagolia-Boxirhat gates are in Kokrajhar and Dhubri districts), stated on Wednesday that the compulsory COVID-19 test had not been enforced at the time, but adequate arrangements have been made to screen the movement of people from across the inter-state boundary.
Read moreAnand Mishra, Dhubri's superintendent of police, said that he visited the Chagolia gate along with the Dhubri deputy commissioner and joint health director on Wednesday. They would start testing immediately and health officials would screen the health status of drivers, handymen, and others coming to the state through the gates. He further said that strict instructions have been given to make sure that nobody should enter the state without going through mandatory COVID screening, as around 5,000 people enter the state through the Chagolia gate.
Read moreAlso, he said about the existence of 15 such vulnerable points where the CRPF, police, and village defence parties have been deployed for round-the-clock surveillance.
However, the compulsory RAT test has already been started at the Srirampur gate today (April 24) for the incoming vehicles and passengers.
In June 2020, the rising number of COVID cases in Guwahati was linked to the sites of loading and unloading of trucks and their parking, suggesting the truck drivers were the potential carriers of the virus from outside of the state. After this, the government issued instructions to district authorities to conduct mandatory tests along with the borders.
Meanwhile, Assam as of Friday reported 2384 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total active cases in the state to 12,595. Kamrup Metro reported 883 fresh COVID cases followed by Kamrup Rural at 159, Dibrugarh at 154, and Nagaon at 100. 12 COVID-induced fatalities have been reported in the state, taking the total death toll to 1,172. Kamrup Metro reported 5 deaths, Kokrajhar reported 2 deaths and 1 death each was reported from the districts of Hojai, Jorhat, Kamrup Rural, and Udalguri. The positivity rate in the state is 3.29% while the recovery rate is 93.53%.