Tourists won't be 'harassed' for COVID-19 report on HP borders
Tourists visiting Himachal Pradesh will not be harassed for a coronavirus negative test report on the state's borders, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Tuesday. "We have taken utmost care of our tourism industry to ensure it does not suffer this session as the coronavirus pandemic affected it last year," the chief minister said.
Tourists will be monitored at the place of their stay
Days after the state government announced making it mandatory for people coming from seven worst-affected states to show COVID-19 negative report on entering HP, Thakur said they have put in place a mechanism for monitoring tourists on their arrival at the place of their stay.
Stopping visitors for reports causes inconvenience to them: Thakur
"In the SOP released for the industry, we have put in place a mechanism to monitor it accordingly," Thakur told the reporters in Dharamshala. "The tourists and other visitors will not be harassed by stopping for corona reports on the state's borders because it causes a lot of inconvenience and difficulty to them," he added.
Report mandatory for people coming from seven most-affected states
"As the majority of visitors will stay in hotels, the administration has put in place a mechanism to check the visitors on their arrival at the place of their stay," he added. The HP government on Sunday had made it mandatory for people coming from seven states which have witnessed a spike in coronavirus cases to carry a COVID-19 negative test report.
CM to review the COVID-19 situation in Kangra district
Thakur had said then that people coming from Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and UP need to carry a negative RT-PCR report not earlier than 72 hours while visiting HP from April 16. He arrived at Dharamshala this morning from Shimla on a day's visit. He will preside over a high-level meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in Kangra district and surrounding areas.
