Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 26: Even as India on Monday reported less number of daily Covid cases compared to the last weekend, the Karnataka government has imposed certain restrictions as a precautionary measure, particularly in view of the New Year revelries.
A notification issued by the government on Monday has made it a must to wear masks at theatres and educational institutions and asked people to avoid crowded gatherings amid renewed COVID-19 concerns after cases spiked in China.
It said all the New Year celebrations should be completed by 1 am and all large gatherings should be strictly outdoors. If possible, day gatherings are recommended to avoid cold weather at night and early morning. People need to wear N-95 mask in theatres. “No mask, no entry” signs should be shown prominently at all public areas.
Customers and staff at bars, restaurants and pubs should have taken two doses of vaccination. Restaurants and similar places cannot accommodate more people than what their capacity allows.
It said the passengers arriving with symptoms at Bengaluru and Mangaluru airports will be taken to Bowring Hospital, Bengaluru and Wenlock Hospital, Mangaluru for quarantine. Alternatively, symptomatic passengers can choose the nearest eligible private hospital for quarantine. The cost will be borne by the passengers.
Those who give RT-PCR test samples can leave the airport, but should remain under home quarantine. If they develop symptoms, they should immediately contact the local health teams and go to the designated medical facility. All those samples with positive report and CT value below 25 will be sent for genomic sequencing to identify whether it is the BF.7 variant, which is causing a spike in cases in China.
Symptomatic children under 12 years who arrive at airports will be accompanied by a parent or guardian in good health to the designated medical centres. The two per cent random sampling of international arrivals will continue as it was decided by the central government.
Meanwhile, five foreign nationals, four of them from Thailand and one from Myanmar, tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in Bihar on a pilgrimage, an official said on Monday. According to Dr Ranjan Kumar Singh, the medical officer in charge of Gaya district, the foreigners were tested at the international airport in Patna as part of a drill that is being followed for those visiting Bodh Gaya to attend the Dalai Lama’s discourses scheduled later this week.
Altogether 33 foreigners were tested during the weekend, out of whom five, four of them females, have tested positive, said Singh. Condition of all the infected persons, who are in the age group of 35 to 75 years, was stable and they have been kept in isolation at the hotel they had checked in, added the official. In view of the fresh cases, testing has been intensified at the airport and the Gaya railway station, the official said.