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Im just back from Kerala last night. Travelled to Cochin by air and onwards by road from Cochin to Kumarakom(Allepy) then onwards to Thekkady finally back to Cochin. We were advised to take an EPass which was a five minute job online.. just upload documents and you have your EPass within seconds. This was advised by the hotel because we would be travelling by road but I’m glad no where it was needed. So as long as you are vaccinated fully with both doses, there should be no problem. If you are a Kerala native a single dose would suffice, if you are from outside Kerala you require both doses. Let me add, was a beautiful experience.

What about children below 18 ?
Do they need a RT-PCR for travel to Kerala with their fully vaccinated parents ?

Good question I guess an recruit 48 hours before should suffice. You can check online on the KTDC site.
Or the airline office on which carrier you are travelling, if by air, should tell you that as that the only place they check this or the hotel.

Thanks a lot for the details. We all have vax certificates. I am still thinking whether I should take test for my 7 year old kid. If Walayar is not very strict, I would really like to avoid taking test. My daughter has seen us getting tested and she definitely is not in a mood to have her nose poked . lol:
Anyway, thanks again for your inputs

What nonsense ? Will the virus know what is the mother tongue before deciding how severely to affect/spread ?
Btw, the state with highest covid cases (reported) is "checking" people from outside the state, lest they 'implant' more virus into the state ?
What's going on, guys ? The RT-PCR lab industry is flourishing and stuffing money into the pockets of politicians and bureaucrats. How else can such things be explained ?
Sorry for ranting here, but I don't know where else to. This 'selective states' thing is nonsense.

I find it ridiculous too but don’t blame me I didn’t make these rules. lol: Found it funny when It was sent to me via email but then that’s whats the truth

Kerala is not asking for RTPCR negative report from people who are fully vaccinated. This is in line with the central government's announced directives. I do not find anything wrong here. In fact there is no checking anywhere in KL for inter-state travelers now as far as I heard.

Verified with a Health Inspector and a couple of others who travelled by air and by road - the rule is either two doses of vaccination or an RT-PCR negative report. The checking is more focussed on airports than road borders.

For some of my travels from Kerala to Bangalore, I had utilised the free RT-PCR camps conducted by the Govt, to obtain the reports, while for the other way, before I got my two doses, I had spent anywhere between 800-1600 for one report.

So here is the update for the weekend travellers across Walayar borders.

No COVID checkposts or stopping at either side of the road as it has been for a while now.

The relayering of the L&T Bypass is completed now. Decent road quality now and a huge improvement from the bouncy road quality from earlier. Only white marking left to do.

Another point though not significant. At the Walayar Chekpost. (The one near A2B at Walayar), towards the Tamilnadu direction, some barricades were laid today and a flux was attached reading "bird flu checkpost". It was unmanned today though, so i would not read much into it yet. If i see some significant development on this today evening i will post here.

Kalady bridge opened from today after maintenance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97DuK4Ica3I
(Sorry, the video is in Malayalam)

Did a Bangalore - Kodungallur trip on 16th, started around 11 am and reached home around 8.30 pm. Had two stops for food and one for refueling. Road condition is normal except those diversion for flyover rebuild. The traffic barricade on the road especially around salem is a pain.

CBE bye pass looked like newly laid - smooth. Guess there was some issue with fast tag, only 17 rupees deducted so far. Its hight time, God should intervene and make it 4 lane at least!!

No check for vaccination or RT-PCR near Walayar.

Net net a peaceful drive. I am worried about the traffic cams on the Palakkad Thrissur section. Got two speed tickets last time for a KA vehicle :(

Update from my yesterday drive from Bangalore to Thrissur. No checking at Karnataka-Tamilnadu border as expected. No checking anywhere within Tamilnadu. New fly overs coming up before reaching Salem city. So there are few diversions but not nothing to really slow you down. At Walayar again no checking at all. It was a smooth drive. Kuthiran had one tunnel with traffic coming from either side. But no stuckups

This has been happening for non-KL vehicles for more than an year now, I think. The speed ticket takes time to reach the non-KL address, mine (PY address) came 6 months after the trip.
I am very careful and stay below the speed limit while I am in Kerala. However, I made the mistake of not warning the driver who took my car to Kerala to pick up someone in the family and ended up getting speed ticket.

I generally check on MVD website once I return after a journey and this time paid it online. The issue with speed limit in KL is that it's keeps changing from 80 to 30 every minute and add to that those traffic signals every 5 or so kilometres. At least there is some four lane roads in the section. It's a blessing compared to the two lanes roads and the maniac buses.

Update from Bangalore - Erattupetta drive on 17th December via Coimbatore, Angamaly, Muvattupuzha, Thodupuzha, Muttom.
As mentioned above, no sort of covid related checks in Tamilnadu or Kerala borders.
Overall a decent drive wrt road conditions. L&T Bypass repair work is almost over and after a long covered this stretch in decent time, because toll plazas are less crowded on Friday.
Kalady bridge was closed on Friday, took right turn at Kalady town and took thiruvairanikulam temple road and reached Alwaye-Perumbavoor road.
Anyway bridge is open from yesterday.
Like the beautiful roads between Muvattupuzha - Thodupuzha and Muttom - Erattupetta with full of greenaries and less traffic.