Odisha makes COVID negative report or vaccination certificate mandatory

The Odisha government has made it mandatory for people to show their COVID-19 negative report or a complete vaccination certificate to enter the state. The new guidelines were issued on Friday in a bid to control the rising number of Coronavirus cases. To enter the state, people will now have to produce either a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 72 hours or a final vaccination certificate after two doses of vaccination.

The rule will be applied on all modes of travel, train, bus, aeroplane, waterways or private vehicles. The new guidelines also mentions if a person comes without these required reports or certificates, he/she will have to undergo seven days of mandatory institutional or home quarantine with effect from April 12.
The government has also suspended all public transport from Odisha to Chhattisgarh and vice versa from April 10 to 30. Border checkpoints (BCPs) will be created at strategic locations to manage the entry of vehicles.

Apparently, Odisha’s COVID-19 tally reached 3,45,526 on Thursday after 879 more people tested positive. As per state health, this is the highest single-day spike in 2021. The situation is quite serious and these measures are required to cap the rising number of cases.