Char Dham Yatra: Covid testing, vaccination certificates not mandatory
Dehradun (Uttarakhand), April 30: Before the Char Dham Yatra begins on May 3, the Uttarakhand government has asked all the devotees to register on the state's portal ahead of their arrival.
However, Covid-19 testing and checking of coronavirus vaccination certificates have not been made mandatory for the devotees, as per the guidelines.
On the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chief Secretary SS Sandhu convened a meeting of the concerned officers to clarify the situation regarding the carrying out of Covid-19 tests on visitors and pilgrims from outside Uttarakhand.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary directed officials to ensure the smooth conduct of Char Dham Yatra till further orders.
According to the official, it is not currently mandatory for passengers and devotees arriving from state borders to undergo Covid-19 testing and present a Covid-19 vaccination certificate.
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However, for the Chardham Yatra in Uttarakhand, all travellers and devotees must register on the Tourism Department's portal. The situation should be constantly monitored at the government and administration level, according to the official.
Meanwhile, India on Saturday reported a slight increase in coronavirus cases, recording 3,688 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours.
The country had reported as many as 3,377 Covid-19 cases on Friday. The Health Ministry informed that the active caseload in the country has risen to 18,684, accounting for 0.04 percent of the total cases.
A total of 2,755 Covid-19 patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,25,33,377. The recovery rate stands at 98.74 percent.
With 4,96,640 Covid-19 tests performed in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tally has jumped to 83.74 crore tests.
As far as the Covid vaccination drive is concerned, 22,58,059 doses of Covid-19 vaccines were administered during this period. With this, the total number of vaccine shots administered under the nationwide vaccination drive so far went up to 1,88,89,90,935.
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-PTC News
