CHANDIGARH: Those visiting Punjab from other states for less than 72 hours are now exempt from mandatory home quarantine requirement, and only need to submit a formal undertaking at the border check post.
As per the orders issued by the state government, these travellers will have to submit the formal undertaking with the OIC of the check post in a standard format provided on COVA app, which the visitors need to download on their phones.
Apart from entering their details in the app’s travellers’ information section, visitors will have to ensure that the app remains active throughout their period of stay in Punjab.
This relaxation for inbound domestic travellers has been given mainly to facilitate students appearing for examinations in the state or business travellers who stay less than three days from the time of their arrival.
The additional SOPs for such travellers requires them to voluntarily submit that they are not coming from any containment zone.
During this period, they shall commit to monitoring their health and maintaining distance from those around, and also interact with the assigned surveillance team in case they notice any symptoms consistent with COVID-19, in which case they must and immediately dial 104.
Punjab government yesterday imposed more stringent curbs in the state including mandatory wearing of masks even while working in office, restricting social gatherings to five people and marriages or other social functions to 30 instead of the present 50.
They also announced a complete ban on all public gatherings.
The state government has also partnered with IIT Chennai experts to intensify surveillance, using technology in order to identify gatherings in the past that could have resulted in a faster spread of the virus.
A detailed notification was also issued yesterday stating that cases will now be registered against those found violating the social distancing norms.
A similar order was also passed a month back by Chandigarh Administration, announcing no need for mandatory home quarantine for anyone coming to the city for 72 hours.