Standard operating procedure for returnees and travellers entering Nagaland

Dimapur, Aug. 4 (EMN): The government of Nagaland has issued a fresh standard operating procedure (SOP) for returnees and travellers entering the state, superseding its earlier SOP issued in June this year, following the high powered committee (HPC) meeting held on July 30.

According to an update by the DIPR, the following SOP will come to effect from August 10:

Designated point of entry and entry permit

• Any returnee/inbound traveller will be permitted only through Dimapur by train, air or by road through the New Field Check Gate and the Dillai Gate; through Khuzama, Kohima district by road, through Tsutapela and Watiyongpang, Mokokchung district by road, through Naginimora and Tizit, Mon district by road, and through Bhandari, Wokha district by road.
• Entry into the state through any other route, or by any other mode of travel will not be allowed, except under special circumstances with the approval of the Home department.
• For returnee/persons travelling by road, e-pass should be obtained as per the existing system by applying on iamstranded.nagaland.gov.in website.

Screening, inter-district transfers

• All returnees/inbound travellers will be screened at the designated entry point or some other convenient location as decided by the respective district task force, in which the entry point is located.
• All returnees/ inbound travellers should have installed the nCOVID Nagaland Visitors App and submitted self declaration through the App by the time of arrival. Checking of the App being installed in the returnee’s /traveller’s phone will be done during the screening on arrival. If the App is not yet installed, the returnee/traveller will be directed to do so and directed to the State Helpline 1800 345 0019 for any technical support.
• All returnees/inbound travellers showing no symptom on screening at the designated entry point will be transported to the quarantine centres; and in case the returnees/inbound travellers are bound for some other district, the district task force (DTF) of the destination/home district will arrange the transportation of the returnees/inbound travellers from Point of Entry to the quarantine centres in their district. In case there are very few number of returnees/travellers travellers bound for other district at Dimapur or Kohima, and transportation to home district cannot be arranged, then on mutual agreement between the DTF Dimapur/Kohima and the concerned DTF of the destination/home district, such returnees/inbound travellers may be kept in the quarantine centres in Dimapur or Kohima for undergoing quarantining, and for testing and subsequent release in accordance with the SOP.
• All returnees/inbound travellers showing Covid-like symptom will be subjected to medical protocols. In case the returnee/inbound traveller is bound for some other district, then based on the fitness, will be retained in the district in which the entry point falls, or transported to the respective home/destination district in a separate transport facility.
• On saturation of the quarantine centres in any district, the returnees/inbound travellers may be shifted to another district on mutual agreement between the district task force of the two districts.

Quarantine

• Every inbound traveller/returnee will have to mandatorily undergo institutional quarantining for seven days at a facility managed and arranged by the concerned district task force or identified hotel/rest house/lodge.
• In a quarantine centre managed and arranged by the district task forces, the following charge will apply: quarantinee will be charged for flooding at a rate fixed by the respective district task force., or quarantinee may opt out and arrange own food from outside being delivered at the quarantine facility which should be mandatorily in single use disposable containers and preferably of biodegradable materials.
• Returnees/travellers who wish to utilise paid quarantine facility will be allowed to do so and they will be subject to the same provisions of the SOP as applicable to any returnee/traveller undergoing institutional quarantine.
• The duration of institutional quarantine and discharge/release to home quarantine are subject to the testing and patient condition. In case there is unavoidable delay in release to home quarantine after testing negative, such person shall be kept in a separate facility as far as possible and in which case no retest will be required unless the person turns out to be a high risk or low risk contact of a confirmed case from contact tracing or the person develops Covid-like symptoms in the quarantine centre.
• For returnees/inbound travellers who are above the age of 60 years, children below the age of 10 years and their parents, pregnant women and accompanying spouse, and patients, they will be screened on arrival with other returnees/travellers. On the advice of the medical team at the entry point/ screening centre, they will be exempted from facility quarantine and will be sent for 21 days home quarantine. The testing of such persons will be done from the 5th to 10th day of arrival.
• The total duration of quarantine is 21 days. For example, if a returnee/traveller is tested negative after completing 7 days in institutional quarantine, he/she will be sent for home quarantine to complete the 21 days, i.e. 7 days in quarantine centre and 14 days in home quarantine.
• The district task force may continue to enlist the support and involvement of tribal bodies, government Officers / employees associations, and faith based / community-based organisations for management of quarantine centres or home quarantine, e.g. in providing food to QCs, disciplining of quarantinees, monitoring observance of home quarantine, counselling and spiritual support, etc.
• Mandatory safety precautions in the quarantine centre: Social distancing, wearing mask, and hand and respiratory hygiene should be followed by quarantinees at all times; no visitors are allowed to meet anyone; essential items like medicines or home food (in disposable containers) may be handed to the quarantine centre in-charge; waste disposal by quarantinees should be done safely; every person undergoing quarantining should be made aware by the district task force that unruly/delinquent behaviour/non adherence to quarantine norms on the part of anyone may lead to his/her shifting to a police quarantine facility for undergoing his/her quarantine period. Quarantine centres should provide masks to quarantines.

Testing

• All returnees/inbound travellers will be tested. But unless symptomatic, returnees/inbound travellers will not be tested immediately on arrival.

• Sample collection should be done in the quarantine centre. Sample Collection Centre should be increased by setting up sample collection booth in the quarantine centre or mobile sample collection van. Transporting several quarantinees in one vehicle to the sample collection centre should be avoided.
• If there is backlog or any delay in the testing, the person in quarantine centre will have to wait for the test and be discharged only after being tested negative.
• Routine re-test is not recommended for person in quarantine for the purpose of discharge from quarantine centre, and re-test is recommended only when there is history of exposure to a confirmed case (through contact tracing) or manifestation of Covid-like symptom while in quarantine centre.
• Covid-19 testing will be free of cost for all returnees/inbound travellers and those high risk or low risk contacts identified in contact tracing. However, it will be chargeable for the following categories: Persons travelling outside the state who request for a test; patient for undergoing non-Covid treatment in the hospital; persons interested to know their status, subject to case load and capacity of the testing centres; special categories of people entering Nagaland for urgent essential works or for unavoidable reasons.
• The rate of testing will be fixed by the government which may be revised from time to time.

Discharge

• The swab of the returnee/inbound traveller for testing will be taken on the 5th to 10th day of arrival and he/she will be discharged from quarantine centre as and when the negative test result by TrueNat or RT-PCR is received, if he/she has completed a minimum of 7 days in institutional quarantine.
• For those who are tested positive, discharge from Covid Care Centre or Covid Hospital will be as per the discharge policy issued by Health and Family Welfare Department.
• The medical team will provide clearance for discharge of returnee/traveller from quarantine centre or recovered patient from CCC/Covid Hospital. Thereafter it will be considered and approved for release by the district task force led by the deputy commissioner.
• The returnee/traveller who is tested negative in quarantine centre or a patient who has recovered in a CCC/Covid Hospital will arrange his/her own transportation for going home to continue home quarantine till the 21st day.
• The district task force will ensure that full details of the quarantinees being released daily and proceeding to their homes in villages/towns for undergoing home quarantine are made available to the concerned ministers or advisors who have been assigned districts to monitor and also to the respective district task forces, in case the district where the person has undergone quarantining is different from his/her home/destination district besides the state War Room 011 Covid -19 / office of the chief secretary.

Special categories of persons /dignitaries/senior government officials

• The special categories of persons who need to enter Nagaland for short durations for urgent essential works or for unavoidable reasons, and the government servants, both state and central, on their return to the State, who in public interest have to start discharging their duties without delay, will continue to be guided by the provisions of the SOP issued on June 17.
• The dignitaries and senior government officials, state and central as specified by the Home department on their entry into the sate, will continue to be covered under the provisions of the SOP issued on June 22.

Military/para military personnel

The personnel of military/para military entering Nagaland will continue to be guided as per the existing provisions and the advisory issued by the directorate of Health and Family Welfare.

Information regarding paid facilities

In order to provide a choice of the paid quarantine facilitv-hotels/lodges/rest houses, that a person intending to come to Nagaland may like to use and thereby help him/her to decide and make the travel plans accordingly, the DTFs will make arrangements for displaying the information regarding the status of availability of the various paid quarantine facilities on various dates in their districts on the website covidl9.nagaland.gov.in

Work distribution

• All logistical issues such as – transportation of passengers / Identification of quarantine centres / provision of food for travelers / housekeeping management of quarantine centres – electricity, water supply, repairs, sanitation / coordination with other districts etc will be the sole responsibility of the respective district task force, including officers, agencies nominated by the government or the DTF as the case may be.
• All clinical protocol such as – Screening of passengers / sample collection / testing of samples / attending to inmates in medical distress / safety protocol in QCs / issuing medical clearance from QCs / dispatch location as the case may be, or any other location will be the sole responsibility of the district health officials, department of Health and Family Welfare.

Returnee/traveller entering before August 10

Any returnee/traveller who has entered the State and commenced quarantining before August 10, the day this SOP comes into force, will continue to be guided by the provisions of the earlier SOP issued on June 1 and the 7th.