Travelling to Bengaluru? Then you must keep things handy

Travellers reaching Bengaluru airport from the UK, Europe, middle-eastern countries, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe must undergo compulsory RT-PCR test, stated a Karnataka government advisory issued on Thursday (September 2).

The guidelines were revised for international arrivals from select countries in view of the new mutations in the SARS-Cov-2 virus.

The state government is more concerned about passengers coming from Brazil and South Africa. Such passengers will be required to undergo the RT-PCR test at the Kempegowda International Airport and leave only after getting a negative report. Those from other countries can undergo the test and leave the airport immediately. They will be communicated the results through tele-conferencing.

A separate set of COVID-19 protocols has been issued for people coming from Kerala. This was necessitated because a large number of students and working professionals, entering Karnataka from Kerala with negative RT-PCR reports, were testing positive for the coronavirus during the repeat test. Many such cases were reported from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of late.

Also read: India logs 47,092 new COVID cases, biggest single-day spike in 2 months

At present, people coming from Kerala have to compulsorily bring negative RT-PCR test certificates not older than 72 hours, irrespective of their vaccination status. Students coming from Kerala are quarantined. The night curfew (9 pm to 5 am) and weekend curfew (9 pm on Friday to 5 am on Monday) continue in Dakshina Kannada district.