Despite Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar’s March 4 announcement that those entering Bengaluru should get a negative Covid test result from April 1, the government is yet to release official guidelines.
With just one day to go for the requirement to take effect, anxious flyers are contacting the Bengaluru airport to learn about test report requirements, while BIAL is asking them to find out from the health department.
Airport authorities have not received any instruction on asking for a negative certificate or test passengers on arrival.
When contacted, Sudhakar said: “Only the guidelines issued by the Chief Minister yesterday (March 29) are valid.”
The Chief Minister did not say anything about travellers to Bengaluru requiring a negative certificate to enter the city. Probed further, the minister did not categorically state that his March 4 announcement, made at a press conference, stands withdrawn.
“Do I need a negative RT-PCR report for travelling to Bengaluru from April 1?” asked one flyer on Kempegowda International Airport’s Twitter handle. “We have not received an official confirmation from the Government of Karnataka about carrying an RT-PCR negative report for other states. Currently, it is required for those travelling from Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab and Chandigarh,” the airport’s official Twitter handle said in reply.
This is a question asked ad nauseam on its timeline, and each time the airport authorities have directed flyers to write to an email address of the state health department or call them on their landline.
Top health department officials have also stayed silent when questioned whether travellers will be checked for negative certificates.
An official circular asks the airlines, train ticket collectors and bus conductors to check for negative certificates before letting passengers board for journeys to other states. Even those travelling in their own vehicles have been asked to carry a negative certificate. But no such guidelines exist for Bengaluru, leaving travellers to the city in confusion.
North Bengaluru resident Archita S is planning to drive down to Chennai in her own car after April 1 and return in a few days.
“Where will the checking be done? At the state border or the city border? What about personal car drivers and taxi drivers who have been to another state for a couple of hours?”.
Questions galore, but no answers
Girish Hegde, an entrepreneur residing in Chennai, advanced his trip to Karnataka from April 1 to March 30 to avoid being stranded at the state border.
“There is no official order from the government. Where will the negative certificate be checked? Thousands of travellers come from Chennai to Bengaluru by train. How will they check everyone? There are thousands of others who travel in buses, both private and government, who board at various points near the state border. Who is going to check?” he asked.
Sahana Prabhakar and her family members spent the past week reading news reports for information on the rules. “My sister-in-law and her twin six-year-olds are flying from the Tuticorin airport to KIA on April 1. There is no official communication from the government on travel requirements to the city,” she said.