The Punjab government on Friday issued an advisory for people coming from other states, asking them to register either on the state government’s portal or the COVA app.
Besides, people entering Punjab by road, rail or air, will also be medically screened, as per an advisory.
Barring frequent travellers, people will also have to follow home quarantine guidelines, it said.
The advisory was issued for incoming persons to Punjab in view of the rising number of COVID cases. The advisory will be applicable from July 7.
“Any person whether major or minor coming to Punjab via any mode road, rail or air shall henceforth, and till further orders, be medically examined when he/she enters Punjab and will be required to e-register himself/herself before starting his/her journey to Punjab,” as per the advisory.
People will have to get registered either on the state government”s portal or the COVA app, it said.
“Except for frequent travellers, all inbound persons after reaching Punjab will have to undertake a self-quarantine of 14 days and during this period they will have to update their health status daily on COVA app or would have to call 112 daily.
“For international travellers, the quarantine would be institutional for the first seven days and home for the next seven days,” the advisory by the state”s COVID-19 control room said.
Deputy Commissioners and district police chiefs have been asked to ensure border check posts at important road entry points, as per standard operating procedure for the management of inward people to Punjab, it said.
In case any vehicle is to pass through Punjab for another state like Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Haryana, Rajasthan etc, and does not have an e-registration slip, it will be allowed to go after noting the contact number of driver, as per the SOP.
All goods vehicles and inbound vehicles in transit to other states with proof of destination shall be allowed to pass, it said.
Similarly, check posts will be set up at railway stations and in Mohali, Amritsar and other airports, officials said.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has given his approval for e-registration of people coming to the state through the Shambhu border to ensure strict monitoring of domestic travellers, an official statement said.
The decision has been taken in view of thousands of people coming to the state every day from Delhi-NCR, where COVID-19 cases are spiralling, it said.
Singh also made it clear that no vehicle should be allowed to enter Punjab without a stringent monitoring mechanism in place.
He was reviewing the state”s preparedness to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic with senior government and health officials through a video conference, according to the government release.
Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan assured the chief minister that people entering the state will be strictly monitored. She said private players are being roped in to ensure implementation of home quarantine with phone-based monitoring and regular visits of medical teams.
People coming to the state will be required to mandatorily register themselves either on COVA app or the government web portal, and a registration certificate with bar code should be carried on the vehicle windscreen.
Those without the certificate printout on their car screens would be stopped and made to register on the spot, the chief secretary said.
The COVA Punjab (Corona Virus Alert) app has been developed by the state government to provide people with preventive care information and other advisories.
The chief minister also gave a go-ahead to a pilot project for COVID-19 rapid antigen testing that will begin next week.
Under the pilot project, a minimum of 1,000 rapid antigen tests will be done in the state. After it is successfully completed, such tests will be done on migrants returning to the state in the wake of reopening of industries and for work in paddy fields.
