Around 14,000 devotees have arrived in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir to take part in the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine during the Navratri festival, 48 people reportedly have tested covid-19 positive on Day 1.
Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said the board has ordered strict implementation of covid guidelines. The Board has asked all the devotees who are coming for Vaishno Devi to follow all the covid-19 norms and other guidelines like maintaining social distancing and wearing masks. Board said strict action will be taken against those who found out violating covid norms.
A Covid-19 negative report is mandatory for all the devotees who are planing for the yatra. In case any pilgrims are found covid positive, they will be isolated and sent to Covid care unit or paid quarantine facilities in hotels or their hometowns under strict Covid protocol.
The pilgrims have to go through a covid test at Katra railway station, Jammu airport and Jammu railway station. Those people who are traveling via road are being tested near the Punjab-J&K border at Lakhanpur in the Kathua district.
Yatris with Covid-19 negative reports less than 72 hours old have permitted to perform the yatra.
These strict actions by the shrine board come at a time when the country facing a huge spike in covid-19 cases by passing each day. India is the second worst-hit country by coronavirus after the United States.
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According to the reports, India on Monday has witnessed more than 168,000 new cases over a 24-hour period. Maharashtra remained the worst-affected state with as many as 63,294 new cases, 34,008 recoveries and 349 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total number of cases in the state now stands at 34,07,245.
Delhi on Monday has witnessed the highest single-day spike with 10,774 new COVID-19 cases and 48 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. The total coronavirus cases in Delhi now stand at 7,25,197, including 34,341 active cases, 6,79,573 recoveries and 11,283 deaths.