The Karnataka government on Saturday announced that travellers from Kerala and Maharashtra have to mandatorily have a negative RT-PCR test not older than 72 hours if they are coming to the state. The rule applies irrespective of vaccination doses taken by commuters. The move comes in the wake of high COVID-19 caseload from Kerala and Maharashtra. Previously, the state government had exempted those who had taken one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from producing test reports for travel.
The state government, in a circular issued on Saturday, clarified that the rule applied to travellers coming into the state by road, rail and flight. "Persons arriving from Kerala & Maharashtra, should produce a negative RT-PCR certificate, that is not older than 72 hours irrespective of vaccination status. The above condition is mandatory for all the passengers coming to Karnataka by flight, bus, train and personal transport. This is applicable for all the flights originating from Kerala and Maharashtra," reads the circular.
"Airlines shall issue boarding passes only to the passengers carrying RT-PCR negative certificates not older than 72 hours. Railway Authorities shall be responsible for ensuring that all passengers travelling by trains carry negative RT-PCR certificates. For all the passengers travelling by bus, the bus conductor shall ensure that they possess RT-PCR negative certificates," the circular further added.
Border checkposts will also intensify the vigilance and check negative RT-PCR reports before allowing commuters to travel into Karnataka.
The decision comes at a time COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Kerala and Maharashtra. Districts like Mysuru, Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada in the southern part of Karnataka share a border with Kerala state, while Belagavi and Vijayapura share a border with Maharashtra. Kerala reported 20,772 COVID-19 cases on Friday and its weekly average cases are above 20,000. Maharashtra reported 6600 COVID-19 cases on Friday. In contrast, Karnataka recorded 1890 COVID-19 cases on Friday with 426 cases in the state capital in Bengaluru.