Those coming to Punjab for less than 72 hours are now not required to undergo the mandatory home quarantine, and only need to submit a formal undertaking at the border check post.
Announcing this relaxation for inbound domestic travelers, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said this has been decided to facilitate students wishing to come for examinations or business travelers, etc., whose stay in the state is short.
It has been decided to exempt such travelers from the 14-day mandatory home quarantine requirement that remains in place for domestic inbound travelers in Punjab, he said.
The exempted travelers will, however, need to submit a formal undertaking with a standard format provided on the COVA app, which they would have to download on their phones. Besides entering their details in the app's travelers' information section, these persons would have to undertake that the COVA app will remain active throughout their period of stay in Punjab.
The additional SOPs for such travelers require them to voluntarily submit that they are not coming from any containment zone and undertake not to exceed the 72 hours from the time of arrival in the state.
During this period, they will commit to monitoring their health and maintaining distance from those around and also interact with the assigned surveillance team in case they suffer from any symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and will immediately call at 104.
All due precautions would have to be strictly adhered to and non-adherence to wearing of mask or social distancing, etc., would make them liable to be penalized under section 188 of IPC as per provision of The Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897, said the Chief Minister.
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Further, if within a week of return any such person is tested positive then he or she will have to immediately contact the government of Punjab at 104 and assist them in contact tracing.
It may be recalled that while the Government of India had recently waived the requirement of home quarantine for domestic travelers and replaced the same with self-monitoring, Amarinder Singh has made it clear that quarantine restrictions will continue to remain in place in Punjab on account of rising numbers.
Tuesday's announcement is the only exemption to the rule.