Chandigarh woman booked for defying quarantine rules

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 3

A Chandigarh woman who recently returned from South Africa has been booked for breaking quarantine rules, police sources said on Friday. 

A woman from Sector 48 who travelled to India from South Africa on December 1 was asked to home quarantine for seven days although she’d tested negative in the first RT-PCR test taken when she landed, a press release from the administration said.

 The woman however defied quarantine rules and checked into the Hyatt Regency Hotel on December 2, then left the hotel and returned at night, the press release said.

She was due for a second Covid test on December 8.

The central government has made it mandatory for international travellers coming to India from “high-risk” countries to undergo a Covid-19 test at the airport. The decision was taken in the light of a looming threat from the Omnicron variant, detected first in Botswana and South Africa.

The press release said that the UT’s Director of Health Services had ordered the staff of Chandigarh’s Hyatt Regency hotel to undergo tests immediately. The press note said that the Director of Health Services ordered immediate action against the violator and constant monitoring until she’s tested again on December 8. Hotels and guest houses in Chandigarh have been asked to enquire after their guests' travel history of the last 15 days at the time of their check-in.

The woman has been booked under Section 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code and also under provisions of the Disaster Management Act.