COVID update: Sikkim relaxes restrictions to woo tourists

In a bid to boost tourism and attract tourists to the state, the Sikkim government has announced relaxation in COVID restrictions. State tourism officials said that tourists who have received one shot of vaccination. However, those vaccinated with single shots will have to produce a negative RT-PCR test report that should not be older than 72 hours before arrival.

Tourists who have taken both the vaccine shots are free to enter the state without any restrictions. But, people below 18 years of age, will have to carry their COVID negative RT-PCR test that should have been conducted within 72 hours of travel.
Not only this, the state government also said that shops and commercial hubs will remain open till 8 PM, instead of 5 PM. Also, tourist vehicles and two-wheelers are exempted from the odd-even rationing scheme. Meanwhile, private vehicles and taxis, transporting locals, will have to follow the odd-even regulation. The Sikkim government has also allowed casinos in hotels to reopen for in-house customers as of now.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Sikkim‘s COVID number rose to 28425 after 150 residents tested positive. As per a health bulletin, South Sikkim reported the highest number of new cases at 81, West Sikkim reported 36 new cases and East Sikkim reported 33 fresh cases of the infection.
Currently, there are 2345 active cases in Sikkim, while 360 people lost their lives to the infection.