400 railway passengers skip COVID-19 test in Assam's Jagiroad station
Evading the mandatory COVID-19 test, at least 400 passengers rushed out of a railway station in Assam on Sunday morning without going through proper testing procedures.
The incident took place at Jagiroad railway station, around 60 km from Guwahati, Assam.
As per reports, the passengers, consisting mainly of migrant workers, including women and children, had travelled by Kanyakumari-Dibrugarh Vivek Express from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, the Assam Police had launched a massive search operation on Sunday to trace the people who fled from the railway station.
“We have sought the passenger list from the railways. We are tracing the people and, by tomorrow, we should be able to locate them and get them tested,” the district’s Superintendent of Police, Aparna N. stated.
The Assam government, in its SOP, has strictly laid out that the COVID-19 test for train passengers is compulsory. However, due to the fear of testing positive, many passengers evaded the obligatory Covid-19 test.
Last month, Bihar reported a similar incident wherein many people rushed out of a railway station in Buxar fearing the COVID-19 testing.
Assam, on Sunday, roughly reported 6,000 new Covid cases, taking its overall tally to 3.65 lakh. Nearly 80 COVID-19 deaths have taken the state's overall fatalities to 2,667.
(Edited by Ridhika Joshi)
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