Virus Test for Delhiites Entering UP via Bus, Train & Flight, More Cut Likely in Guest Limit at Weddings

Days after the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration in Uttar Pradesh started random testing at the Delhi-Noida border, UP Chief Secretary RK Tiwari on Sunday said that people coming to the state from Delhi will be tested.

News agency ANI quoted Tiwari as saying that people coming from Delhi via flight, bus or train will be tested for Covid-19

as there is a surge in the number of coronavirus cases in the national capital. Tiwari said that discussion will also be held on the number of people allowed to attend weddings or other events.

An official said that different districts are expected to take a call on the number of people allowed in marriage functions and other events taking into consideration the ground situation in respective places. District magistrates and SPs have been asked to increase the vigil and impose the safety norms like use of masks.

The spurt in coronavirus cases in Delhi has been witnessed since October 28 when the daily rise breached the 5,000-mark for the first time and it crossed the 8,000-mark on November 11. Delhi recorded 5,879 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday and a positivity rate of 12.90 per cent, while 111 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 8,270.

The rising coronavirus cases in Delhi were attributed to the festive season, non-compliance of the COVID-19 safety behaviour and rising pollution in the city.

The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration had on Wednesday started random testing of people coming from Delhi to Noida at the borders of the two cities amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the national capital. The positivity rate among people randomly tested for COVID-19 at Gautam Buddh Nagar’s Delhi border was higher than in non-border areas of the district on Thursday, according to officials.

The purpose of randomly testing incoming people from Delhi at Noida’s borders was to assess and prevent the spread of the infection from high-risk carriers, according to District Magistrate Suhas L Y. “This is being done in order to assess the spread of the infection and would help in issuing advisories to employers and organisations, where a large number of people work and commute between Gautam Buddh Nagar and adjacent areas, so that the spread of infection is contained to a large extent,” he had said earlier this week.

(With PTI inputs)