Covid-19: Centre’s new guidelines for Vaishno Devi pilgrims
New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday issued fresh guidelines to regulate the flow of pilgrims to the Vaishno Devi shrine and prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The decision came after the State Executive Committee reviewed the current situation in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Only those pilgrims shall be allowed to visit Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji shrine, who do not show any Covid-19 related symptoms. The shrine premises should be properly sanitized as per the Covid SoPs.”
“Valid and verifiable RT-PCR or Rapid Antigen Test not older than 72 hours of arrival should be made mandatory. Strict adherence to Covid-19 appropriate behavior and standard operating procedures (SoPs) must be followed,” the fresh order said.
The Committee observed the UT recorded 108 new corona cases on Friday, including 21 in the Jammu division and 87 in the Kashmir division. Thus, the total number of active corona cases in the UT reached 331,494, including 4,429 deaths so far.
The Vaishno Devi Temple is a well-known cave shrine located in the Trikuta hills of Katra in Jammu. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Mata Vaishno Devi or Goddess Trikuta, astride a lion.
(Avya Mathur)
