Passengers from Punjab, Chandigarh to show RT-PCR certificate on arrival

Bengaluru: In view of the surge of COVID-19 cases in Punjab and Chandigarh the State government has made it mandatory for passengers coming from the four States to carry RT-PCR negative certificates not older than 72 hours at the time of arrival in Karnataka.

Recently the government had made it mandatory for the passengers from Kerala and Maharashtra to carry the RT-PCR negative reports to enter Karnataka. "Negative RT-PCR certificate not older than 72 hours shall be compulsorily produced by the passengers coming to Karnataka by flight, bus, train and personal transport. This will be applicable for all the flights originating in Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab and Chandigarh," the government circular said.

The Constitutional functionaries, health care professionals, children below 2 years and citizens in dire emergency situations (death in the family, medical treatment etc) are exempted from carrying the negative certificate.

However, in such a situation the passenger's swab shall be collected on arrival in Karnataka with necessary details like phone number, address etc. The measures will come into effect from March 25 at 6 am.

The Airlines are directed to issue boarding passes only to the passengers carrying RT-PCR negative certificate not older than 72 hours and the Railway Authorities will be responsible for ensuring that all passengers travelling by trains carry negative RT-pCR certificates. The circular read that the bus conductors have to ensure that the passengers possess RT-PCR negative certificates.

The Deputy Commissioners of the Districts bordering Maharashtra and Kerala are directed to make arrangements to ensure that the vehicles entering Karnataka are checked for the compliance of the above requirement.