Vaccinated passengers coming from Maharashtra to Karnataka or those passengers who have got at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are now exempted from showing a negative RT-PCR report and can show their vaccination certificate to enter the state, the Karnataka government said on Tuesday, June 29. Till now, the government had mandated that travellers from Maharashtra need to show a negative RT-PCR certificate, not older than 72 hours, to enter the state. Now, travellers — coming to Karnataka by bus, train, taxi, personal transport, etc — from Maharashtra will be granted entry if they show they have received at least one dose of any of the COVID-19 vaccines in India.
The government in a release on Tuesday said that airlines shall issue boarding passes only to the passengers carrying RT-PCR negative certificates not older than 72 hours or a vaccination certificate of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Railway authorities have been made responsible for ensuring that all passengers have the necessary documents as well. For all the passengers travelling by bus, the bus conductor shall ensure that they possess RT-PCR negative certificates or vaccination certificates.
Deputy Commissioners of the districts bordering Maharashtra — Belagavi, Bidar, Vijayapura Kalaburagi — shall make arrangements to deploy necessary staff at checkpoints to ensure that all the vehicles entering Kamataka are checked for compliance with the above requirement, the government said.
Those who are exempted from carrying a negative RT-PCR certificate are: Those who have a vaccination certificate of having received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine; constitutional functionaries and healthcare professionals; children below 2 years; and those in dire emergency situations (in case of a death in the family, medical treatment etc.). In such cases of emergency, the passenger's swab shall be collected on arrival in Karnataka and their details like phone number, address etc. will be verified from their ID cards. On receipt of the RT-PCR test report, further action will be taken as per the state protocol, the government has said.