Himachal govt to make 72-hour prior RT-PCR negative report mandatory for visitors from April 16

After registering 120 deaths and 10,690 new Covid cases in the last 45 days, Himachal Pradesh is all set to make it mandatory for visitors from high load states to carry a RT-PCR negative report for a 72-hour period prior to the visit from April 16 onwards.

An advisory in this context would soon be issued that people from Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh must carry such a report with them while visiting Himachal Pradesh.

HP Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur made the disclosure while presiding over a meeting with senior officers to review the situation due to the sharp surge in Covid-19 cases on Sunday. He said the virus was spreading at a fast pace which was a huge concern.

The state witnessed a sharp surge in COVID-19 cases after the Jai Ram Thakur government allowed devotees to visit various temples in the state during the Navratri festival, even as it failed to keep a check on large scale gatherings at 'langars', 'bhandaras' and 'jagran' organised across the state.

The entry of tourists and devotees to the state remained unchecked and the SoPs issued by the state as well the Union government were violated with impunity, thus worsening the Covid situation to this extent.

Though the government has been issuing SoPs from time to time but on the ground it seems that they are not being enforced strictly. For instance, overcrowded trucks, buses and other public transport and private vehicles are entering the state without any check through entry and exit points on various roads.

The travellers could be seen without face masks and hardly following other Covid protocols like social distancing and using sanitisers. Huge gathering could be seen at roadside dhabas, restaurants and other eateries across the state. Heaps of muck and refuse leftover by the tourists have been dotting all main roads to various tourist and religious destinations in the state.

Himachal Pradesh has suffered a negative growth of 6.2 per cent in 2020-21 which is a record drop in the state's economy.

The biggest adverse impact of the global pandemic was on the state's tourism sector which saw a contraction by over 81.33 in the arrival of domestic and foreign tourists. Trade in hotels and restaurants also slipped down by 9.2 percent during the year while it was up by 4.2 percent in the previous year, claimed Jai Ram Thakur while tabling the Economic Survey report for the year 2020-2021 in the state assembly last month.

The CM said that as of now the state government has decided to allow tourists to visit the state, but at the same time hotel owners and tourists should strictly adhere to the SoPs issued by the state government. While laying stress on the twin strategy of testing, tracing and treatment with effective surveillance of micro containment zones, he said that greater emphasis must also be laid on going for RT-PCR tests to achieve the target of 70 percent RT-PCR tests. He said that the state Health Department must also take steps to increase bed capacity and ensure minimum wastage of vaccines.

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