In view of the increasing COVID-19 cases, the Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Department has issued fresh travel guidelines for domestic and international passengers. Business travellers coming to Tamil Nadu for a short trip of 72 hours or less than three days are now exempted from home quarantine. E-pass is mandatory for all international passengers and domestic travellers, except those from neighbouring states of Puducherry, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
According to the latest guidelines, all passengers from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, with Tamil Nadu as the final destination, should give their samples for testing before leaving the airports in Tamil Nadu, even if they have tested negative for coronavirus in other Indian airports on arrival in the country.
All passengers from Europe and the Middle East (other than UK, Brazil and South Africa) should submit the Self-Declaration Form (SDF) for COVID-19 on the Air Suvidha portal before the scheduled travel into India and should declare their travel history (14 days prior to the arrival). They should do an RT-PCR test and carry the COVID-19 test negative report before departure. The test should have been conducted within 72 hours prior to departure to India and uploaded on the portal www.newdelhiairport.in.
In its government order dated February 24, the Tamil Nadu government updated the travel guidelines for domestic and international passengers choosing to travel to the state. As per the guidelines issued last month, people travelling to Tamil Nadu from other states and Union territories (except Kerala and Maharashtra) should monitor their health for 14 days from the date of arrival. Persons coming to Tamil Nadu from Kerala and Maharashtra should mandatorily undergo home quarantine for seven days and monitor their health based on symptoms. The symptomatic passengers will be made to undergo COVID-19 testing.
In August last year, Tamil Nadu issued an order exempting all business passengers entering the state for a short stay of 72 hours from quarantine norms to help boost business in the state following months of total lockdown.
As on Saturday, Tamil Nadu recorded 526 new COVD-19 cases, of which 243 patients tested positive in Chennai. The state witnessed the discharge of 560 patients. However, four patients succumbed to COVID-19. The Tamil Nadu government tested 54,864 people on Saturday.