Delhi makes negative coronavirus test report compulsory for travellers from these 5 states; details here

Amid a fresh spike in coronavirus cases, the Delhi government has decided to update the travel guidelines. Now, those arriving from the worst-affected states would have to carry a negative Covid-19 report. According to news agency ANI, the latest rule will come into effect from February 26. At present, it has been decided that the new travel norms will stay in force till March 15. However, the situation will be reviewed, and the decision of the travel norms may be extended. The new guidelines say that travellers from Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Chhattisgarh will need to carry a negative RT-PCR report in order to be allowed entry into Delhi. These five states, especially Maharashtra have witnessed a sharp surge in Covid cases in the last 15 days. In fact, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had warned that if the situation doesn’t improve, the state is likely to see yet another corona lockdown.

Delhi is the second state after Karnataka to revise the interstate travel guidelines. Last week, Karnataka had issued said that those travelling from Maharashtra and Kerala would require to carry mandatory negative RT-PCR with them. In August last year, as part of the ‘Unlock’ rules, Karnataka had eased the inter-state movement. State capital Bengaluru has an outbreak of Covid cases in various housing societies. While both state and Centre have been urging people of maintaining the mask discipline, the ground reality is very different. A smaller number of people are seen wearing masks. Those who wear the face covers do so to avoid fines.