Government to take call on revelry rules

With a Omicron surge in the United Kingdom, the State Government too is deliberating on measures to be taken during New Year revelry. The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) recently recommended the State Government to re-impose night curfew between December 30 and January 2 to prevent crowding.

Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr K Sudhakar said, “We are discussing what needs to be done between Christmas and New Year. We will take a call in the next few days.” He said it was imperative for all to follow covid-appropriate behaviour. “We are having regular consultations with experts and officials on our next course of action. We are requesting support from the public,” the minister said. Meanwhile, on introducing a “universal pass” like Maharashtra, Dr Sudhakar said that the discussions were on.

For at-risk travellers

The State Government is starting home quarantine for people coming from at-risk countries. A senior official said the logistics are being worked out. An official told Mirror, “All arrivals from at-risk 12 countries — UK, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong and Israel — are being tested on arrival. If they test positive for covid at the airport, they are sent for compulsory hospitalisation. In case of a negative report, they have to be in home quarantine (HQ) for seven days and get tested on the eighth day. “During the HQ period, we will monitor the travellers. It’ll be used by those visiting HQ persons to report compliance.”

Dr K Sudhakar said, “We are keeping a close watch on those in HQ. We are also keeping an eye on their primary and secondary contacts.”

A BBMP official said though there are protocols around institutional quarantine of arrivals from ‘high-risk countries’, no decision in this regard has been taken. The BBMP has not yet stipulated compulsory institutional quarantine for international arrivals from any of the countries.”

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Six from state test positive for Omicron


Six more people tested positive for the Omicron variant in Karnataka on Saturday. With this, the Omicron tally in the state rose to 14.

One of the new patients is an 18-year old woman who had travelled from the UK. She had travelled from the UK with a RT PCR negative certificate, but when tested at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), her result came positive and her samples were sent for genomic sequencing. In a first, an Omicron cluster case has been reported from Bantwal, Dakshina Kannada district. The patient has no travel history.

Officials have traced 42 of her primary contacts and 293 secondary contacts and all of them have been tested. Around 18 contacts have tested positive. Among her contacts, one is a 14-year old girl who was isolated at a hostel and has recovered. Two others are 13-year-old girls from the same hostel while the 14th patient is a 14-year old girl.