The Alipurduar district administration has directed owners of all lodges, hotels, resorts and other private accommodations not to let any visitor from outside the state or abroad check in unless screened by the district health department and the police.

At a meeting at the district magistrate’s office here on Friday, the decision was made and the instruction passed on to tourism stakeholders in the region to try and rein in the alarming spread of Covid-19.

Bengal has 74,737 active Covid-19 cases at present. On Friday, Bengal logged 6,878 recoveries, but again reset the record for the highest number of new infections in 24 hours, with 12,876.

“It has been decided that in all these accommodations, health safety protocols should be maintained in the most stringent manner to prevent the pandemic from spreading. If any visitor from outside Bengal or abroad turns up in any of these places, those running the accommodations will inform the local police and health department employees. Thereafter, the visitor has to be screened and only after health department employees are satisfied would the visitor be allowed to check in,” said Surendra Kumar Meena, the district magistrate of Alipurduar.

This apart, rooms and other areas must be sanitised twice daily. Also, no visitor can eat in the accommodation’s dining hall or restaurant.

An employee of a private resort in Madarihat of Alipurduar district dispenses sanitiser to visitors before check-in. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

“Food will be served in their rooms. The health department and local administration will keep tabs on whether guidelines are being followed in these accommodations. If required, screening will be made mandatory for any visitor (not just from outside the state or country),” said an administrative official.

Those associated with the tourism industry have welcomed the guidelines and said they were already on the alert.

“Even if a single Covid case is reported from a resort, it is a big problem. Most of the staff at resorts are local residents and there is a risk of the contagion spreading through them. We will obey the latest administrative guidelines too,” said a resort owner.

The tourism industry, the economic mainstay in north Bengal, had taken a beating in 2020 because of the pandemic and lockdown. It started reviving from November-end. But during the past three weeks or so, tourist inflow has reduced amid the surge in Covid-19 cases in the second wave of the pandemic.

Meena and his officers also spoke with local trade bodies of Alipurduar, a town that sees hundreds of people daily from adjoining districts and Assam. They were told to ensure Covid safety measures in all shops and MSME units.

“All employees must wear masks. Also, no shop in town will sell anything if the buyer does not have a mask on. We are also working on plans to sanitise marketplaces,” said Prasenjit Dey, secretary, Alipurduar Chamber of Commerce.