Commercial vehicles’ drivers, conductors from Kerala, Maharashtra to produce negative RT-PCR report upon entry: K'taka | Bengaluru - Hindustan Times
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Commercial vehicles’ drivers, conductors from Kerala, Maharashtra to produce negative RT-PCR report upon entry: K'taka

By, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Mar 07, 2021 09:40 PM IST

The decision comes in the wake of a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra as well as Kerala.

Karnataka on Sunday issued an order asking drivers and conductors of commercial vehicles or vehicles carrying goods entering the state from Kerala and Maharashtra, which have reported a surge in the cases of coronavirus disease, to show report showing they don't have Covid-19.

A health worker from NMMC Hospital conducts RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Test for COVID-19 at Vashi Railway Station Complex in Navi Mumbai. (Bachchan Kumar/ Hindustan Times)
A health worker from NMMC Hospital conducts RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Test for COVID-19 at Vashi Railway Station Complex in Navi Mumbai. (Bachchan Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

“Drivers and conductors of commercial vehicles or vehicles carrying goods from Maharashtra and Kerala have to produce negative RT-PCR Covid-19 certificates while entering Karnataka,” news agency ANI reported citing the Karnataka government.

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The decision comes in the wake of a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra as well as Kerala. Karnataka also has witnessed a surge in the number of daily cases and has been asked to increase the number of tests and pace of vaccination by the Union ministry of health and family welfare. Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are the six states which have reported a surge in the number of cases and account for more than 84% of the daily recorded cases reported across the country in the last 24 hours.

India has reported 18,711 cases in the last 24 hours and 100 fresh fatalities due to Covid-19. Maharashtra’s surge in cases has also become a cause of alarm for health authorities as the state recorded more than 10,000 cases for 3 days in a row. Kerala on Sunday recorded 2,100 cases and 13 deaths taking its tally of infected to 10.77 lakh. More than 4,300 people have died from Covid-19 in the state.

The Karnataka government had earlier imposed similar measures in order to stop the spread of Covid-19 across districts which border Maharashtra and Kerala. Dakshina Kannada district administration in February had set up mobile testing units to collect samples at border checkpoints as several people including daily wage workers as well as students travel from Kasaragod to Mangaluru. People going to Kerala from Kasaragod were being tested for Covid-19 before entering Bengaluru. Towards the end of February, the district administration put an end to the practice citing inconvenience to people. The decision by the Dakshina Kannada district administration had also met resistance from the locals.

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