TN issues guidelines for Maharashtra, Kerala arrivals; K’taka min says no confusion over travel restrictions
With the emergence of two new strains of Covid-19 in three states, guidelines for domestic air travel in India have been revised.
FollowWith the emergence of two new strains of Covid-19 in three states, guidelines for domestic air travel in India have been revised. States like Maharashtra, which has registered an uptick in Covid-19 cases, has made it compulsory for passengers travelling from select states to produce a negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test report on arrival.
The government of Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday, issued fresh guidelines for people coming to the state from abroad and other states in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the revised guidelines, people coming to Tamil Nadu from Kerala and Maharashtra will have to undergo a mandatory home quarantine of seven days.
· Persons coming to Tamil Nadu from other states and union territories (except Kerala and Maharashtra) shall self-monitor their health for 14 days after their arrival.
· Persons coming to Tamil Nadu from Kerala and Maharashtra shall undergo mandatory home quarantine for seven days and then self-monitor their health for symptoms in the next seven days.
· All symptomatic persons arriving from other states will be subjected to COVID-19 testing.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka government mandated a negative RT-PCR certificate that is not older than 72 hours for those arriving in the state by flights, buses, trains and personal transport from Maharashtra.
Reacting to protests and Kerala Chief Minister writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over restrictions on the Karnataka-Kerala border, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said in a statement on Wednesday that there is no confusion and there is no restriction for anyone to enter the state.
“A negative RT-PCR report is compulsory for those coming from Kerala and Maharashtra. But there is no restriction for anyone to enter the state. There is no confusion in this. Restrictions have been imposed only for those two states since there are more number of cases,” Sudhakar said
The report shall be verified at the time of boarding by airline staff, a circular issued by the Additional Chief Secretary Department of Health and Family Welfare Jawaid Akhtar said.
For those travelling by bus, tickets shall be issued on production of negative RT-PCR report or shall be checked by the bus conductor while boarding of those who have booked tickets online, etc.
In trains, the TTEs shall check the report, it said, adding that a random check of the testing reports from the persons arriving at the tollgates /point of entry shall be made for those coming by personal transport.
In a similar circular, Karnataka earlier this week had issued new guidelines mandating all those coming from Kerala to the state to carry a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 72 hours.
The recovery rate in India stands at 97.25% as of February 24.
As per the Union Health Ministry, 86.3% of the new coronavirus cases are from five states – Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Punjab.
