West Bengal revises travel guidelines, to allow this group of people to enter state without RT-PCR test; Check here

States especially need to be careful of their entry guidelines.

West Bengal travel guidelines: Following Kerala’s footsteps, West Bengal has decided to change its travel guidelines. Keeping in mind the severe second wave of coronavirus, the state had been requiring all incoming passengers to carry a mandatory negative RT-PCR test report with them in order to be able to enter so that the spread of COVID-19 in West Bengal could be contained. However, now that the vaccination drive has been ramped up, the state, in an order dated July 19, said that all incoming flight passengers would need to either have been fully vaccinated or they would need to carry the mandatory RT-PCR test report with them.

Also read | Kerala updates COVID-19 travel guidelines, allows exemption from mandatory RT-PCR test to fully vaccinated passengers

This means that passengers heading to West Bengal through commercial or non-commercial flights would be able to enter the state without needing to show an RT-PCR report if they carry the certificates proving that they have received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccination.

In case any passenger has not been fully vaccinated and has to visit West Bengal, they would still need to be required to carry a negative RT-PCR report, and they would also need to ensure that the test was conducted within 72 hours prior to their flight’s departure from the source.

The state shared the order with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and said that it would come into force with immediate effect.

Even though India seems to be at the tail end of the second wave of coronavirus, states are still being cautious about who can enter since the very real threat of the third wave is looming over the country, especially with new variants like Delta Plus and Kappa being detected in the country. The fact that scientists have found the Delta Plus variant in 11 states in India is also a cause for concern. States especially need to be careful of their entry guidelines considering the situation that is prevailing in several hill stations in the north, like Manali and Mussoorie, where people have been crowding and flouting COVID-19 norms.