Even fully-vaccinated passengers travelling to Ranchi from Bangalore will be screened for symptoms of Covid-19 upon arrival at the Birsa Munda Airport, officials at the Birsa Munda Airport said on Friday, claiming that the screening of Karnataka passengers was particularly intensified after two cases of infection caused by Omicron variant of Coronavirus surfaced in the southern state.
An official involved in security management at the airport said that even if fully-vaccinated individuals show symptoms of Covid-19, they will be isolated from others and thoroughly tested.
The two Karnataka patients infected by the Omicron variant of coronavirus were fully-vaccinated, Karnataka’s Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar has said. This development, airport officials said, indicates that even vaccinated passengers should be at least screened if not tested for Covid-19. Airport Director Vinod Sharma said that additional manpower was deployed at the arrival gate of the airport to ensure no passengers enter the city without proper screening for Covid-19 symptoms.
“Fully-vaccinated passengers will also be screened for symptoms of Covid-19, but they will not have to produce a negative RT PCR test report,” said Sharma.
At least three flights carrying passengers from Bengaluru land in Ranchi every day. On an average, about 1500 passengers from Bengaluru, including some international travellers, land in Ranchi every week, airport officials said.
The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus, which first surfaced in South Africa, has already been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong, Britain, Australia, Israel and some other countries, sparking a global concern.
Health experts have warned that the Omicron variant of coronavirus has at least 30 mutations, and it may bypass the immunity provided by vaccines in India, hinting that vaccinated individuals too were not safe.
While many states have enforced stricter protocols for interstate travellers and some countries have made Covid tests mandatory even for international travellers who were fully-vaccinated, Jharkhand had not issued any directive regarding testing of vaccinated travellers by the time this report was filed.
However, the state has directed all the districts to identify international travellers who have come to Jharkhand in the past 14 days and test them for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, the district administration has also intensified the screening process at Hatia Railway Station to ensure that passengers travelling from Yesvantpur in Karnataka are tested thoroughly upon their arrival, officials said. The Hatia Yesvantpur Express runs two days a week between Ranchi and Bengaluru.
