Secretary IP&T urges Islanders to follow CAB and maintain social distance at public places

John Wilbert & Savita Kumari
Port Blair, Jan 07: Mr. Pankaj Kumar, IAS, Secretary of Information Publicity & Tourism Department today urged all Islanders to follow all COVID Appropriate Behavior (CAB) strictly and minimize unnecessary movements in public places.
While addressing the COVID-19 media briefing today at IP&T Conference hall the Secretary IP&T said that cases of COVID-19 in India are increasing with a new variant “Omicron”.
It is difficult for the Administration to stop the movement of people, Andaman and Nicobar Islands are receiving many tourists. The Secretary urged media persons to spread awareness among the public that they should follow all the CAB and should follow COVID-19 protocols.
“The government has taken several measures to contain this virus, one of the major decisions that has been taken that every person entering these Islands now has to get a negative RT-PCR, which has to be shown at the airport. Earlier this was on hold, when cases were fewer in these islands. Now it is mandatory for persons, who are partially vaccinated or fully vaccinated and even the children above two years to carry a negative RT-PCR at the arrival on Airport”, he said.
Mr. Kumar further pointed out that many other restrictions have also been imposed. Restrictions on transport vehicles have been issued in which only 70% of seating capacity is allowed, the tourist boats and ships will also sail on 60-75% capacity, and night curfew has been also imposed from 09:00 PM to 05:00 AM unless there is an emergency the movement of people is restricted. However, for trade purposes, e-passes will be issued at the DC Office, to convince traders to load-unload goods. These restrictions have been started and imposed for the first stage of COVID-19 cases, if COVID-19 cases increase in islands the restriction will also increase, he added.
He mentioned that restrictions have also been imposed on tourist attractions like at Cellular jail and Netaji Subash Chandra Bose islands, the capacity for light and sound shows has been reduced.