Uttarakhand hotels not to take bookings from cities with high coronavirus cases

Hotels in Uttarakhand will not be allowed to take bookings from customers arriving from “high-load” Covid-19 cities, the state government has announced.

While issuing guidelines to reopen restaurants, shopping malls and religious places of worship, chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh said guests from cities with less number of cases will have to stay for a minimum of seven days.

Officials said that if a person is carrying some infection, there are chances of manifestation within seven days. If people keep coming and going, it will become difficult to track the cases, they added.

“Initially when we are starting, we want to be cautious,” Singh said.

The hotel management will have to take a written undertaking in this regard and customers violating the order shall be liable to actions per the provisions of section 51 to 60 of the DM Act, 2005 and under section 188 of the IPC.

All hotels/ B&B/ Homestay & hospitality services will be allowed to resume in areas, barring the containment zones and municipal area of Dehradun till further orders, the notification read.

However, the tourist spots will be open to the locals of the state.

Besides this, the guidelines also read that the Char-Dham Devasthanam Board, in consultation with the respective district administration and other stakeholders, may decide to open and put necessary restrictions in place. “However, pilgrims from places outside the state shall not be allowed till further orders,” it read.