No mandatory COVID test for children below 10 years entering Assam

Guwahati, Nov 8: Mandatory COVID-19 testing of children below 10 years of age entering Assam with double vaccinated guardians has been done away with by the state government, an official notification said on Monday. Fully vaccinated adults coming into the state were already exempted from compulsory testing for the infection through an earlier order.

The latest notification issued by Anurag Goel, principal secretary, Health and Family Welfare department, said, “Children below 10 years of age along with double vaccinated parent(s)/ guardian(s) coming to Assam are hereby exempted from the mandatory COVID-19 testing.”

“However, voluntary paid testing for such children shall be facilitated if the parents/ guardians so desire,” it added. All incoming passengers who had been vaccinated with both doses of vaccine were exempted from mandatory testing on arrival by a previous notification.

However, passengers who are vaccinated with a single dose or are not vaccinated at all, or are symptomatic even after receiving both the doses have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR testing at their own cost on arrival.

The orders are applicable for people entering the state through airports, railway stations, road border points, etc., the notification added.

The exemptions have been granted due to decreasing COVID-19 positivity in the state as well as the country and also increasing number of vaccinated people, it further said. Assam reported 137 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday, a National Health Mission bulletin had said.