Full Vaccination or Covid Negative Report Mandatory to Enter Punjab From Monday

The Punjab CM expressed concern about the positivity rate in Himachal Pradesh and other parts of the country, which probably also pushed Punjab's positivity rate marginally up to 0.2 per cent in the last week.

Chandigarh: Punjab government has made it mandatory for all incoming travellers to carry either a full Covid vaccination certificate or a negative RT-PCR report, starting from Monday. Making the announcement, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh gave strict directions for monitoring particularly of those coming from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu, which are showing increased Covid positivity rate.

According to an official statement, Singh expressed concern about the positivity rate in Himachal Pradesh and other parts of the country, which probably also pushed Punjab’s positivity rate marginally up to 0.2 per cent in the last week.

The new restrictions will apply to all those entering Punjab by road, rail or air, the chief minister said, adding if a person does not fulfil either of the criteria, he/she will have to undergo RAT (rapid antigen test) unless they recently recovered from Covid.

Amid rising Covid cases from schools, CM Amarinder Singh also directed that only fully vaccinated teaching and non-teaching staff, or those recently recovered from Covid, physically teach in schools and colleges.

Punjab on Friday reported 89 new cases of the coronavirus, taking the infection count to 5,99,846, according to a medical bulletin. There were no new Covid-related deaths in the last 24 hours.