Kerala Tourism prepares blueprint of Do’s and Don’ts
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has unequivocally stated that no tourist coming into Kerala should feel harassed, due to the stringent virus testing measures initiated by the government, in the wake of the corona outbreak.
“No one should be forced to leave,” he said while addressing a review meeting on the situation on Saturday.
The chief minister has said that all stakeholders should ensure that the inbound tourists don’t face any difficulty. However, as part of the precautionary measures they have to be in isolation at their place of stay.
A health department advisory has categorised the tourists as high risk an low risk. The 28-day isolation is only for high risk tourists. The 14-day isolation for the low risk one involves restrictions on non-essential travel and community contact considering the country from where they have come.
Kerala Tourism secretary Rani George has said that everyone needs to understand that quarantine measures have been taken up not only for inbound tourists but also for anyone returning from any country. This is part of the stringent measures taken to control the spread of the virus.
“The tourism trade fraternity need to co-operate so that we could overcome this crisis soon. I know the issues all of you would be facing and that combined with the business loss makes matters worse. But we would definitely recover from the crisis with the joint efforts of all,” she said in a note to all the stakeholders in the tourism sector.
The tourism department is currently awaiting the revised advisory from the health department on the decisions taken during the meeting on March 13 chaired by the chief minister.
The health department has asked everyone to adhere to the health advisories issued by the state government. Those who have arrived from COVID-19 countries should remain in isolation and those who return from other countries must disclose their arrival details at the airport or at the health desk. If any violation of this takes place, stringent action will be taken and if an individual fails to get treatment even after exhibiting the symptoms, then penal action will follow.
Do’s and Don’ts
- The health department has asked the travellers to follow the cough etiquette at all times. Cover the mouth and nose with the tissue when coughing or sneezing. If tissues are not available cough/sneeze into your upper arm or sleeve. Avoid using hands and strictly avoid spitting in open places. Always maintain hand hygiene by washing hands with soap and water or with an alcohol based hand sanitiser. One should refrain from self-testing or self-treatment or seeking help through over the counter treatments. In case of any respiratory symptom (including fever, cough, sore throat, breathlessness) they are requested to contact the health department’s 24×7 helpline called DISHA.
- Resorts, hotels and homestays should maintain a register of all travellers with phone and email IDs of both foreign and Indian nationals arriving or transiting through Wuhan or any other corona affected spots. Records of all guests who have checked in or staying in hotels/resorts/home stays etc after January 15, should be maintained by them. The list of such travellers should be handed over to the district medical officer, who will contact them and initiate surveillance.
- The hotel and resort staff should maintain personal hygiene and interact with travellers with a minimum distance of six feet. Every hotel should have facilities to isolate suspected guests and staff and have adequate supply of triple layer masks and hand sanitisers. Leaflets containing multi-language do’s and don’ts with helpline numbers should be given to all travellers and hospitality staff.
- The tourism department has constituted a help desk at the Directorate of Tourism at Thiruvananthapuram in connection with COVID19, to assist everyone with updates on the subject.
M Sajeev K R, tourist information officer – 9995454696
Ramesh T P, tourist information officer – 9447363538
Email – helpdesk@keralatourism.org