PANJIM: The Goa government has decided not to permit ‘liberal tourism’ in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic across the world. But, with the tourism season inching closer, the government will allow the entry of fully vaccinated asymptomatic individuals.
The minutes of the meeting of the Expert Committee were on Monday submitted by the State government to the High Court of Bombay at Goa that is hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on COVID-19 management.
At the meeting, committee members unanimously agreed and decided that “liberal tourism should not be permitted under present circumstances.” To this, the Division Bench sought an explanation from the government about what it meant by ‘liberal tourism’. The government has been directed to reply by Wednesday when the matter will be next heard.
The meeting also decided that people in exempted and non-exempted categories shall be allowed in the State without any COVID-19 negative test/certificate provided they have received both doses of the vaccine, completed 14 days after the second dose and are asymptomatic.
For children, accompanying their families, those below two years and asymptomatic do not require a COVID-19 test report but if symptomatic, a COVID-19 negative RT-PCR test report generated within 72 hours of the testing or COVID-19 test is mandatory. For children aged above two years, a negative test report is mandatory irrespective of whether the child is symptomatic or not.
The expert committee has also decided to not allow large gatherings, to vaccinate all the stakeholders of the tourism industry, etc. The decisions are subject to review as and when required especially during the emergence of hotspots, mutant strains and increase in COVID-19 cases.
