Kerala updates COVID-19 travel guidelines, allows exemption from mandatory RT-PCR test to fully vaccinated passengers

Kerala travel guidelines: Kerala has updated its travel guidelines! As part of its efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus, Kerala was requiring any travellers entering the state to carry a negative RT-PCR report. However, in an updated order on Wednesday, the state government decided to grant an exemption from this rule to those travellers who had received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine. In the order, the state said that many travellers visited the state for several reasons, like for attending exams or for interstate travel, which was the reason it had made it mandatory for people entering the state to get an RT-PCR test done for coronavirus before their journey.

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Now, though, the vaccination drive is steadily gaining pace again in the country, with more and more people being inoculated. Even those people in the age group of 18 to 44 years, which was the last group to start receiving the vaccine doses, have started getting their second doses. Keeping this in mind, the state has decided to exempt people who have received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine from getting an RT-PCR test done. For this, however, these travellers would need to carry certificates for both the doses to prove that they have received both the doses.

There is a condition that the state is imposing though. Those people who have been fully vaccinated but have developed symptoms of COVID-19 would need to get the RT-PCR test done to check whether their symptoms are indeed for coronavirus infection or not. In such cases where symptoms are present, the travellers, even vaccinated ones, would need to carry a negative RT-PCR with them to enter the state.

The Kerala government added that these guidelines would come into force immediately.