Compulsory 14-day home quarantine for returning Kumbh visitors: DDMA
New Delhi: The Delhi Disaster Management Authority, after reporting over 24,000 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday night, issued an order mandating that any resident of Delhi who has visited the Kumbh Mela 2021 at Haridwar between April 4 and April 17 or was going to visit the Hindu festival any time between April 18 and April 30 must compulsorily upload their basic information so that they can be tracked on arrival.
While those who have already visited the site since April 4 have asked to upload this information voluntarily within 24 hours, those planning to visit the festival in the future have been ordered to furnish these details before leaving Delhi itself.
The order, issued late at night, came as the city's positivity rate reached over 24.5 per cent and a record 167 people died of the disease. As per the order, every one who has visited the Kumbh Mela between April 4 and April 17, must compulsorily upload details, including, name, Delhi address, phone number, identity proof, date of departure from Delhi and date of arrival in Delhi, on the link provided on the Delhi government's official website.
Furthermore, the DDMA order said that anyone planning to visit Haridwar for the Kumbh Mela between April 18 and April 30, till when the festival is officially held, must also upload all these details on the link in the Delhi government website compulsorily before leaving for the religious visit from Delhi itself.
The DDMA order clearly states that if any report is found or any person is found to have not uploaded the required information as per instructions, the District Magistrate will send them to 14 days of institutional quarantine at a government facility.
However, all those who do upload this information, have been ordered to go into home quarantine mandatorily for 14 days.
In addition, the DDMA order, signed by Chief Secretary Vijay Dev, directs all District Magistrates to ensure that each and every resident who has travelled to the Kumbh Mela 2021 in Haridwar be traced and tracked on a daily basis and ensure that they follow their mandatory 14-day home quarantine, failing which they may be sent to institutional quarantine centres.
It added that the DMs will also act as nodal officers to coordinate the entire process of tracing and surveilling all those who arrive from the Kumbh Mela, which is quickly turning out to be a super-spreader event.
In a press note, the Delhi government has said that thousands of Delhi residents have already visited the Kumbh Festival and thousands more are scheduled to visit it later this month and these measures were needed to control the spread of Covid-19 in Delhi.
In addition to asking travellers to the Kumbh to voluntarily submit their information, the Delhi government said that it is also in touch with the Uttarakhand government so that they can have access to a list of all Delhi residents who have visited the Kumbh festival so far.
