COVID-19: RT-PCR report not required for air travel says Maha govt; revises guidelines

In a significant development, the Maharashtra government has revised the air travel guidelines. As per the latest rules, people who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus will now be eligible to enter the state without showing a negative RT-PCR report at the airport. According to the official statement issued by the government, the interval of validity of the RT-PCR test has also been extended from 48 hours to 72 hours. The new guidelines will be applicable to all domestic and international travellers. 

According to an official release issued by the Maharashtra government, "Persons who have been vaccinated with both the doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and 15 days have elapsed since the administration of the second dose of vaccine and are in possession of a final vaccination certificate issued through the COWIN portal, then such person is exempted from the mandatory requirement of possessing a negative RTPCR report on their entry into the State".

RT-PCR test not required to enter Maharashtra

The decision came after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation urged the Udhav Thackrey-led government to rule out the RT-PCR negative test report guideline for passengers arriving in the state from within the country if they are fully vaccinated.

However, this decision was also taken in view of the fact that many passengers travelling twice a day for business or other purposes could not be able to show the RT-PCR test on the same day.

Earlier in May, the state government made an RT-PCR negative test compulsory for people entering Maharashtra. As per the old guidelines, a person travelling to Mumbai was required to show a test report carried out within 48 hours of starting the journey. However, this rule was only applicable to passengers coming from Gujrat, Goa, Delhi, Rajasthan, and Kerala, as these five states then reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases and eventually the rule became mandatory for all. 

COVID situation in Maharashtra

Maharashtra’s COVID-19 cases tallied to 61,89,257 with the addition of 8,010 new infections on Thursday, followed by 170 deaths. Meanwhile, the vaccination drive is still going on full throttle, as 3,642,556 doses were administered on Thursday, taking the total number of vaccine doses administered to 391,340,491 and Maharashtra has administered a total of 41,10,38, 530 doses.