Following the issuance of guidelines on surveillance, containment and caution in view of Covid-19 by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the State Government has also issued fresh guidelines to be followed in the state.
To encourage Covid appropriate behaviour, the district administration shall take all necessary measures. Strict enforcement of wearing of face masks, hand hygiene and social distancing must be ensured. To enforce the wearing of masks mandatory in public and work spaces, imposition of fines on persons not wearing masks shall be imposed as prescribed in the Health department order. Observance and enforcement of social distancing in crowded places, especially in markets, weekly bazaars and public transport is also critical for containing the spread of Covid. For this, the SOP issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) to regulate crowds in markets shall be strictly enforced by the district administration. SOPs issued for regulating travel in aircrafts and trains shall be strictly enforced and if found necessary, the transport department shall issue necessary guidelines for regulating travel in public transport like buses, Vikram and others.
For surveillance and containment, effective demarcation of containment zones in vulnerable and high incidence areas shall be carefully done by the district authorities at the micro level, considering the guidelines issued by the MoHFW to break the chain of transmission and control the spread of virus. The containment measures as prescribed by the MoHFW will be scrupulously followed within the demarcated containment zones. These include allowing only essential activities, strict perimeter control, intensive house to house surveillance, testing as per prescribed protocol, quick isolation of Covid-19 patients in treatment facilities/home and administering prescribed clinical interventions among others. It shall be the responsibility of the local district, police and municipal authorities to ensure that the prescribed containment measures are strictly followed. All activities have been permitted outside containment zones except some permitted with certain restrictions. Cinema halls and threatres will function with 50 per cent capacity, swimming pools will be open only for training of sports persons and exhibition halls will be only for business to business purposes.
Similarly, social/religious/sports/entertainment/cultural will be allowed with upto maximum of 50 per cent of the hall capacity with a ceiling of 100 persons in closed spaces and considering size of ground/space in open space. Based on its assessment of the situation, the district administration may impose local restrictions like night curfew to contain the spread of Covid but it shall not impose any local lockdown outside the containment zones without prior consultation with the state government. District administration and other authorities will also need to enforce social distancing in offices. There shall be no restriction on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and goods including those for cross land border trade under treaties with neighbouring countries. No separate permission/approval/e-permit will be required for such movement. However, all asymptomatic inbound persons travelling from other countries to Uttarakhand shall mandatorily register on the portal http://smartcitydehradun.uk.gov.in. Similarly, registration on this portal prior to travel is also mandatory for all inbound persons in case of inter-state movement. All inbound asymptomatic persons if coming for a specific purpose for a duration of less than seven days will not be quarantined. However, if they are coming for a longer duration, they will be placed in home or institutional quarantine for 10 days and self monitor their health. All asymptomatic persons who are travelling outside the state from Uttarakhand for a maximum of five days shall on return be exempted from quarantine.
However, in case of outbound travel for more than five days, such persons shall have to undergo 10 days home quarantine on their return. All asymptomatic inbound persons shall be exempted from home quarantine if they undergo RT-PCR/TrueNAT/CBNAAT/Antigen test with negative report on return or not earlier than 96 hours before arrival to Uttarakhand border. While tourists arriving by all modes also have to register on the portal, it is not mandatory to bring Covid negative test report before check in hotel/homestay. Checks like thermal scanning and other prescribed health protocols for hotels and restaurants must be complied with.
Monday, 30 November 2020 | PNS | Dehradun
