New provisions rolled out at Lucknow Int'l Airport amid Omicron scare

Amidst the rising concerns of the Omicron strain of COVID in India, the government of Uttar Pradesh is gearing up to take preventive precautionary measures to check the pandemic situation across the state. As per reports, the administration has equipped Lucknow's Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport to comply with the latest COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Health Ministry for the same. To ensure safety from this Variant of Concern (VOC), the state government is focusing on amping testing, vaccination, surveillance and sanitisation in all UP districts.

Provisions at Lucknow Airport

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In a bid to step up its vigil, the administration has equipped Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport with a waiting area, with the capacity to house 50 passengers. Moreover, 4 registration counters, 4 sampling booths and 95 Rapid PCR testing machines have also been placed at the international airport in Lucknow. The number of registration counters may increase in the future depending on the influx of passengers, read reports.

The RT-PCR test at Lucknow airport would cost ₹900 and the reports will be furnished in 8-12 hours. On the other hand, a RAPID PCR test would cost ₹3500 and the results of this will be provided within record 30 minutes, informed officials. If found positive, the test sample will then be sent for genome test sequencing to detect the new variant.

RT-PCR test mandatory upon arrival in UP

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While UP has been marked safe from Omicron as of now, more than 23 cases of this new variant have been registered in India as yet. To prevent the invasion of this new strain into the state, the administration has boosted preparedness across all the districts in UP. According to the latest guidelines issued by the government on Monday, anyone entering the state has to take an RT-PCR test upon arrival.

As per reports, around 3000 PHCs and 855 CHCs in UP are being furnished with all advanced medical facilities to provide enhanced aid to people. Besides, the state has also made arrangements for 100 beds in all the medical colleges in the state, along with 50 new beds at Community Health Centres (CHC) and Primary Health Centres (PHC). The administration is also focusing on the arrangements like oxygen, beds and labs to ensure proper management, under the agency of 73,000 monitoring committees here.

Need to follow COVID protocols

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To bolster prevention and treatment further, the authorities have been instructed to strictly adhere to the guidelines suggested by the health advisory committee. Laying emphasis on the importance of inoculation, the Chief Minister of UP directed officials to pace up the vaccination drive across the state. Meanwhile, authorities have also urged the public to stick to COVID-appropriate behaviour and follow all government-mandated protocols, strictly.

With inputs from agencies.