To enter Punjab, show fully vaccinated report or negative RT-PCR

The Punjab government announced that from Monday (August 16) the state will allow entry to only those who are either fully vaccinated against coronavirus or have a negative RT-PCR report.

The directions, issued after Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh held a COVID review meeting in Chandigarh, also said there will be strict monitoring of people coming from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu.

The 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 with reproduction number going up to 1.05 per cent.

A Cambridge study has also predicted that cases are likely to double in the next 64 days, he warned, announcing new restrictions in addition to those already in force.

These 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 reports of COVID cases from schools, the CM also directed that only fully vaccinated teaching and non-teaching staff, or those recently recovered from COVID, physically teach in schools and colleges.

Online learning option will remain available to all children, he said.

Since August 9, as many as 41 students and one staff member in government schools have tested positive.

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He further ordered prioritisation of teachers and non-teaching staff for vaccination, with special camps to be held to ensure that all are covered with the first dose within this month and those due for their second also be given due attention.

Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu suggested reducing the gap between the two doses to expeditiously administer the second dose to teachers and other school staff.

The CM also ordered at least 10,000 test samples of students and staff from schools be collected every day.

Districts where positivity is above 0.2 per cent have been asked to shut down physical education for up to class 4 until the situation improves.

The CM said that intensive testing has shown that the positivity rate among school students is 0.1 per cent against the overall positivity of 0.2 per cent recorded in the past one week.

Virtual classes can be taken by teachers who are not fully vaccinated, he said, adding the number of students in schools should be suitably curtailed if enough fully vaccinated teachers are not available.

He directed schools to allow just one student per bench.

Singh said parents of school-going children should also be encouraged to immediately get vaccinated in order to enable the physical learning without hindrance.

(With inputs from agencies)