Covid-19: Karnataka government eases interstate travel rules, withdraws 14-day mandatory quarantine
Medical checkups at border posts, bus and train stations, hand-stamping and registration on the state portal have also been discontinued.
The Karnataka government has issued fresh guidelines for interstate and intra-state travel to contain the spread of the coronavirus, including withdrawal of a 14-day mandatory quarantine period for asymptomatic patients belonging to other states, Mint reported on Tuesday.
In an order issued on Monday, the state government has discontinued various curbs, including medical check-up at border posts, bus and train stations, hand-stamping, registration on Seva Sindhu portal and isolation for travellers.
The decision comes weeks after the Centre’s July 29 “Unlock 3” guidelines, which removed such travel restrictions. On August 22, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to all states and Union Territories asking them to make sure that no restrictions were imposed on interstate and intra-state movement of goods and travellers.
The Karnataka government, led by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, has made several changes to guidelines for the people arriving in the state. Under the fresh guidelines, travellers, who are asymptomatic, will be allowed to go to work and carry out other activities without any mandatory restrictions. However, the person will have to monitor his health condition for any symptoms of the coronavirus.
If a traveller is found symptomatic upon arrival, the patient will have self-isolate or seek medical assistance. The order also stated that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike will carry out campaigns for incoming travellers on the importance of self-isolating, self-reporting and undergoing coronavirus tests.
“This revised circular shall apply to all interstate travellers arriving in Karnataka from all states/UTs [Union Territories], including business travellers, students, labourers coming for work transit, travellers, etc. irrespective of their purpose duration of stay in the State,” a government statement said.
The government will also remove interactive voice response outbound calls and quarantine watch app monitoring, home quarantine posters, monitoring from panchayat or ward-level teams and flying squads.
Karnataka has so far reported 2,83,665 coronavirus cases, according to the Union health ministry. More than 4,800 people have died in the state and 1,97,625 patients have recovered.