<span style="color: #222222;">In order to curb spread of new covid 19 variant Omicron, Maharashtra govt has issued guidelines for passengers travelling from African countries. In a notification issued recently, the government has declared South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe as high-risk countries and the passengers from these countries as High-Risk Passengers.<br />''<br />''It said these High-Risk passengers shall have to undergo RTPCR test immediately on arrival at all international airports and then sent for an institutional quarantine for seven days.<br />''<br />''A second RTPCR test would be conducted on these passengers after seven days and if any of these passengers are found to be positive then these high-risk passengers would be shifted to a hospital with Covid 19 facilities. It said if the second RTPCR test comes to be negative, even then such passengers would have to undergo further seven days of Home quarantine.<br />''<br />'' The govt has also asked the immigration department to draft a proforma of declaration for all arriving passengers on international flights to declare details of the countries that they have visited in last 15 days which has to be shared with all airlines. The same information shall be cross-checked by immigration on arrival. An incorrect information furnished by any passenger shall lead to action under relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act.<br />''<br />''The notification said in case of domestic travelers, passengers will either have to be fully vaccinated or compulsorily carry RTPCR test showing negative result within 72 hours of boarding.<br />''<br />''The Assam government has issued new SOPs for international travelers following the spread of the Omicron variant in the country. The new SOPs issued last night make it mandatory for international travelers to do the RT-PCR test on arrival at the airport.<br />''<br />''The order also said that those who plan to stay in the state to go for mandatory quarantine at home for seven days. If any of the travelers is found positive, he or she will have to abide by the state government protocol, and the samples will also be sent to laboratories for genome sequencing to determine the Covid variant.<br />''<br />''The state government has also asked those who are going out of or coming into Assam to upload a self-declaration form on Air Suvidha portal before the journey. The passengers have been asked to submit travel details for the last 14 days and a negative RT-PCR report, not older than 72 hours.</span><br />