People from Kerala traveling to Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts in Karnataka have to carry a negative RT-PCR report, stated the officials in the two districts on Tuesday (June30).

Dr KV Rajendra, Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada had ordered that the people travelling to the district from Kerala will have to compulsorily carry a COVID-19 negative certificate. Even as the DC added that the test positivity rate in Dakshina Kannada is around 5 per cent, while it is at 10 per cent in Kasargod.

A local resident in Talapady, a border checkpost in Dakshina Kannada district, told The News Minute that checks were being carried out at the border for negative RT-PCR certificates. But he added that the checks were conducted only on select vehicles passing through the checkpost.

Further, the report went on to quote Virajpet tehsildar R Yoganand in the neighbouring Kodugu district. A COVID-19 negative certificate is compulsorily required to cross the border via Kutta or Makutta in the district, said the tehsildar adding that rapid antigen test (RAT) tests were being carried out at the checkposts since Monday.

The authorities have increased the surveillance due to the scare caused by the Delta variant of the virus, he said. Hence, any traveller coming to the district from Kerala should carry a negative RT-PCR certificate.

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A negative RT-PCR certificate will be required for travelling from Kerala to Mysuru as well.

Even though COVID-19 negative certificate has been mandatory to cross the border since March 2021, many people could enter the borders without a negative RT-PCR certificate as the authorities were lenient earlier. Checking was not done very seriously even at Talapady border checkpost, which connects Kerala’s Kasargod with Karnataka, and is considered to be one of the busiest routes in the state.

This decision is bound to affect students who attend colleges in Karnataka. Rashid Mohiuddin, a resident of Kasargod, told The News Minute that there are hundreds of students who attend colleges in Mangaluru.

“The Dakshina Kannada district administration should not stop the students from entering the district when colleges reopen,” he said, adding that as of now, they have not been told that people will be stopped at the border.