Bengaluru: Burdened with rising COVID-19 cases of people returning to Karnataka from Maharashtra, the State government on Thursday raised the quarantine period from 14 days to 21 for people arriving from Maharashtra.
"Returnees from Maharashtra will be sent to institutional quarantine for seven days, followed by 14 days strict home quarantine, (for a) total (of) 21 days," Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said in a tweet.
The 21-day quarantine regimen is for all asymptomatic people returning from Maharashtra.
However, a few categories of asymptomatic returnees from Maharashtra have been provided exceptions from the three-week quarantine and designated as special category passengers. These include people who suffered a death in the family, pregnant women, children below 10, elderly people above 60, individuals suffering from serious illness and human distress.
Business travellers from Maharashtra are also exempt. "To establish that one is a business visitor, (the) person should show confirmed return flight or train ticket which should not be more than seven days from the date of arrival," Chief Secretary of Karnataka T M Vijay Bhaskar said.
Similarly, if a business visitor is arriving by road, he should provide address proof of the person in Karnataka he intends to meet and the visitor should produce a COVID-negative test certificate which is not more than two days old.
"(If) one does not have a COVID-negative test certificate, such a person should go for institutional quarantine for two days within which (the) COVID test should be conducted at his own cost. After the test result is negative, that person is exempted from quarantine," he said.
Meanwhile, Karnataka today reported 257 fresh COVID positive cases taking the total to 4,320. Four people died due to COVID, taking the toll to 57.
Udupi today reported 92 fresh COVID positive cases followed by Raichuru, 88 – most of them returnees from Maharashtra.
