Karnataka makes 7-day quarantine mandatory for those coming from Kerala

The Karnataka government has made institutional quarantine must for people entering the state from Kerala. Such travellers will have to quarantine themselves for a week, Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar said on Tuesday.

The rule will be applicable even for those who are vaccinated and carry a negative RT-PCR test report, Sudhakar added.

Travellers who arrive in Karnataka on a flight from Kerala will also have to mandatorily undergo seven-day quarantine. These travellers can choose a hotel of their choice, which had been designated for institutional quarantine, said Sudhakar. Such travelers undergoing institutional quarantine will be tested on the sixth day and if the report comes out negative for Covid-19 on the seventh day, they will be allowed to go, he added.

The decision has been taken due to high numebr of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in Kerala. On Monday, the southern state recorded 19,622 new cases and 132 related fatalities. Kerala logged 29,836 Covid-19 infections and 75 related deaths on Sunday. A day before, there were 31,265 cases and 153 deaths in the state.

According to Sudhakar, the Karnataka government is working out a strategy in consultation with experts on how to further strengthen Covid prevention drive in the districts bordering Kerala, such as Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Chamarajanagar.

He said the government may take "even more" stringent measures in the border districts to control the spread of Covid-19.

Asked if there will be Covid-19-related restrictions during the upcoming Ganesha festival, Sudhakar said the health department has been insisting that no public function should take place, because wherever people gather in large numbers, the threat of the spread of the pandemic increases.

To check the spread of the infection, the Kerala government has clamped night curfew and also decided to conduct a seroprevalence study to determine the immunity of people against the virus and assess the risk of the spread of the pandemic.