GANGTOK, July 11 - With security personnel comprising a substantial chunk of the COVID-19 cases in Sikkim, the State Government has decided to allow only those jawans to enter the Himalayan State who test negative for coronavirus, a senior Health official said today.
Rapid antigen tests will be conducted exclusively on security personnel, including those from the Army and the paramilitary forces, at the Rangpo border check-post, he said. The Rangpo check-post on the Sikkim-West Bengal border is one of the main entry points to the State.
�Those testing positive for COVID-19 during the rapid antigen tests will not be allowed to enter Sikkim and will be sent back to quarantine centres from where they came,� said Director General-cum-Secretary of the Health Department Dr Pempa T Bhutia.
The measure comes after more than three dozen security personnel posted in the State, bordering China, tested positive for COVID-19.
Earlier, thermal screening was conducted on everyone including security personnel entering the State through the border check-posts.
Meanwhile, eight more people have recovered from COVID-19 in the State, the official said. Of the 121 COVID-19 cases in the State, 41 are active and 13 patients (Army personnel) have migrated to neighbouring West Bengal, while the remaining people have been cured of the disease, he added. � PTI
