On the 18th of April, the Maharashtra Government announced six states to be sensitive regions for the spread of the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19.
In order to sustain the spread of the COVID-19 and control the increasing number of cases, the Shiv Sena declared states of Kerala, Goa, Gujarat, Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR,) Rajasthan and Uttarakhand as the places of “sensitive origin.” An order regarding the same was signed by the Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte.
According to the signed orders, passengers traveling to Maharashtra from these six states would need an RT-PCR negative test within 48 hours of their train travel. These steps would help the State Government to curb the transmission of the Novel Coronavirus in Maharashtra and to “stop the influx of other COVID-19 virus variants into the State from other locations.”
The orders read, “These places will be considered the places of sensitive origin from the date of this order till the time it is retracted or till COVID-19 stays notified as a disaster.”
The Maharashtra Government also issued a standing operating procedure (SOP) for passengers from the six states of sensitive origin.
In the SOP for passengers, the Uddhav Thackeray led State Government said the Railways should share data of the trains that are scheduled to be running between these origins and stations in Maharashtra with the local disaster management authorities.
The shared data should be given to the local disaster management authority each day, four hours before the departure from the origin of trains. No unreserved tickets would be issued from these places to Maharashtra.
In addition, the Railways should ensure that trains from the places of sensitive origin should come to outer platforms where it is easier to conduct thermal screening (of passengers.)
If passengers are not carrying the RT PCR negative report, they need to undergo a rapid antigen test at the station.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra is the worst COVID-19 hit State in India. In the past 24 hours, the State reported the highest, 68,631 fresh cases and 503 deaths of COVID-19.
With this, the cumulative caseload in Maharashtra mounted to 38,39,338 while the death toll reached 60,473.
Stay tuned for further updates.
