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U’khand makes Covid -ve report must for visitors from 12 states
The district administration will also hold random Covid-19 testing at the airport, railway stations and road entry points at the border, the guidelines issued on Tuesday stated.
Dehradun Amid the surge in Covid-19 cases across the country, the Uttarakhand government on Tuesday finally made it mandatory for people coming from 12 states with high caseload to carry a negative RT-PCR test report.
The district administration will also hold random Covid-19 testing at the airport, railway stations and road entry points at the border, the guidelines issued on Tuesday stated.
The hill state is expecting millions of pilgrims to the Mahakumbh in Haridwar, which will officially kick off on Thursday, April 1.
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The states whose residents need an RT-PCR test, no older than 72 hours , are Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan, according to guidelines issued by state chief secretary Om Prakash.
The guidelines also asked “people above 65 years of age, people with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children below 10 years of age from the above mentioned states” to avoid travelling to Uttarakhand except “for unavoidable circumstances.”
There will be no restrictions on the movement of essential services and goods, the state government clarified.
The guidelines were issued in the evening following a Covid-19 review meeting held by chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat with officials through video conferencing. Rawat himself tested positive for Covid last week and has isolated himself at home.
Rawat told officials that people coming to Uttarakhand from states with high number of Covid-19 cases would have to mandatorily carry RT-PCR negative test report with them while directing the officials to frame guidelines on the same.
The directive was in contrast to the CM’s earlier stance, when, on March 20, he said that all devotees were invited to the Mahakumbh, adding, “Faith will help overcome the fear of virus.”
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