Starting today, the capital of the country has made it mandatory for people travelling from five states to get a negative Covid-19 report before entering the state. People travelling to Delhi from Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Chhattisgarh have to provide a negative RT-PCR test report to enter the state.

The order is applicable to passengers who will be arriving in Delhi by flights, trains or buses. The Covid-19 negative reports should be not older than 72 hours. According to Delhi government, this order will be in force from midnight of 26 February until 15 March.

“Delhi government took the decision because, in the past week, 86% of the new virus cases have emerged from these states. Nodal officers in these states will be asked to verify COVID-19 negative reports from tests taken up to 72 hours before the flight, prior to allowing passengers to leave for Delhi,” sources said.

Due to the sudden rise in Covid-19 cases, several states have made it mandatory for visitors to produce negative Covid report if they are coming from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Delhi recorded 220 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest number of single-day incidences in February, even as no new fatality was registered. This was the fourth time the single-day fatality count has stood nil in this month.