By PTI
RANCHI: The Jharkhand government on Wednesday announced that all migrant workers returning to the state will have to undergo COVID test on arrival and a mandatory week-long quarantine.
The decision was taken to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, particularly in rural areas, amid a surge in cases over the last fortnight, officials said.
“All migrant workers coming back to the state of Jharkhand shall be tested (RAT) on arrival. Those migrant workers who test negative shall be quarantined for 7 days in institutional quarantine facilities to be set up at appropriate level by the respective district administration,” Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh said in an order.
The migrant workers will be tested again before departure for home from the quarantine facilities, he said.
“Those tested positive in any of the two tests mentioned above shall be managed as per protocol of Department of Health and Family Welfare,” the order mentioned.
The government is expecting that a large number of migrant workers will be returning from other parts of the country with several states announcing lockdown amid the COVID crisis, affecting economic activities, officials said.
“The situation of Covid -19 has been reviewed and it has been observed that there has been an exponential rise in Covid-19 cases in the state during the last fortnight and it is estimated that large scale inflow of migrants back to respective villages may pose a considerable threat of spread of Covid-19 in rural areas of Jharkhand,” the order said.
