Amid COVID situation in China, K'taka govt mandates masks at certain places, New Year celebrations to end at 1 am

Taking the lead among states in terms of precautionary diktats, Karnataka has made masks mandatory at theatres, schools and colleges apart from closed places, air-conditioned rooms and crowded public spots.

NewsBharati 27-Dec-2022 11:24:35 AM

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Bengaluru, December 27: Stepping up preventive measures in the wake of a spurt in Covid-19 cases globally, the Karnataka government on Monday (December 26) made masks mandatory in educational institutes, theatre and public places where crowds are likely to gather for New Year celebrations.

Its decision came at a time as the Centre readied states for a mock drill across health facilities on Tuesday to assess the country’s readiness in the event of another wave of Covid-19.

Taking the lead among states in terms of precautionary diktats, Karnataka has made masks mandatory at theatres, schools and colleges apart from closed places, air-conditioned rooms and crowded public spots.

Besides, New Year revellers have to wear masks at pubs, restaurants and bars. State Health Minister Keshava Sudhakar said guidelines had been issued to end New Year celebrations before 1 am.

Karnataka has also increased Covid testing from 2,000-3,000 to around 4,000-5,000 tests. Karnataka will also be sending all the samples that test positive and report CT value below 25 for genomic sequencing to identify whether it is BF.7 — an Omicron sub-lineage that is believed to be behind the recent spike in cases across the world — or another sub-variant or sub-lineage.

On Saturday, the Central government had said that RT-PCR tests would be made mandatory for people coming from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand.

Random Covid-19 testing has started at various airports across the country in the wake of rising cases globally, Mandaviya reminded on Monday.

COVID situation in India

India saw a single-day rise of 196 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have marginally increased to 3,428, according to health ministry data updated on Monday.

Five foreign nationals, four of them from Thailand and one from Myanmar, have tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in Bihar on a pilgrimage, according to state officials.

After a person who recently returned from China tested positive in Uttar Pradesh, state Health Minister Brajesh Pathak on Monday appealed to all those who have recently travelled to foreign countries to remain in home isolation until they get tested.