PremiumKarnataka government has issued an addendum to its order according to which, those possessing certificate of having received at least one dose of COVID vaccine were exempted from producing negative RT-PCR report
A day after releasing fresh guidelines for travellers arriving from Kerala amid surge in delta plus variant of Covid-19, the Karnataka government tweaked its order today.
In its revised order, the state has now said that it has exempted those who have received "at least one dose" of COVID-19 vaccine and possess the certificate for the same from producing the negative RT-PCR certificate while entering the state.
On Thursday, the state had ordered that all people entering the state from Kerala need to produce a negative RT- PCR report that is not older than 72 hours, but had exempted those who have received "both doses" of COVID vaccine and possessed certificate for the same from producing the test report.
Subsequently the government has issued an addendum to its order according to which, those possessing certificate of having received at least one dose of COVID vaccine were exempted from producing negative RT-PCR report.
Here is a lowdown on the revised guidelines for Kerala travellers:
1) Airlines shall issue boarding passes only to the passengers carrying RT-PCR negative certificate not older than 72 hours or vaccination certificate of at-least one dose of COVID 19 vaccine.
2) Railway Authorities shall be responsible for ensuring that all passengers travelling by trains carry negative RT-PCR certificates not older than 72 hours or vaccination certificate of at least one dose of COVID 19 vaccine.
3) For all the passengers travelling by bus, the bus conductor shall ensure that they possess RT-PCR negative certificates not older than 72 hours or vaccination certificate of at least one dose of COVID 19 vaccine.
4) Deputy Commissioners of districts bordering Kerala like Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Mysuru and Chamarajanagara have been asked to make arrangements to deploy necessary staff at checkposts to ensure that all vehicles entering Karnataka are checked.
5) It is mandatory for students and the public visiting Karnataka daily for education, business and other reasons to undergo RT-PCR tests once in 15 days and possess the negative report.
Permitted exemptions for negative RT-PCR certificate are as follows:
a) Vaccination certificate of having received at least one dose of COVID 19 vaccine.
b) Constitutional functionaries and health care professionals.
c) Children below 2 years.
d) In dire emergency situation (death in the family, medical treatment etc.,) - the passenger's swab shall be collected on arrival in Karnataka with necessary details like phone number, address etc., duly verifying from his ID card. On receipt of the RT-PCR test report, further action will be taken as per the State protocol.
"Any person violating these measures will be liable to be proceeded against as per the relevant provisions of the Kamataka Epidemic Diseases Act 2020, Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under relevant section of IPC, and other legal provisions as applicable," the order stated.
According to the order, Kerala continues to be threatened with the spread of COVID 19 virus, and further, INSACOG (a consortium of laboratories for whole Genome sequencing in the context of COVID 19 pandemic) has intimated that Delta Plus variant of COVID 19 virus, which is currently a Variant of Concern (VOC), has been reported in certain districts of Kerala.
The government earlier this week had imposed similar surveillance measures for people coming into Karnataka from Maharashtra
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