Covid: Only fully vaccinated people allowed in Karnataka malls, theatres

A day after the Union Health Ministry said that two cases of Omicron have been detected in Karnataka, the state government on Friday announced slew of measures following a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Revenue Minister R Ashoka said that as per the new directives, only those who have taken both the vaccine doses will be allowed entry to malls, cinema halls and multiplexes.

The parents of the schoolgoing children must receive both doses of the vaccine, otherwise their kids won’t be allowed in schools, he added. The government has also directed the schools and colleges to not hold any functions in their premises. All government servants will have to be fully vaccinated, as per the new guidelines, Ashoka said.

The new rules will come into effect from Friday onwards.

“There is a spike in positive cases among students coming from Kerala. We don’t want to take any chances,” the minister said.

Also, international passengers won’t be allowed to step out of the airports until they produce a negative RT-PCR report. Steps will be taken to increase the number of testing units at the airports. Those who want to get their test results quickly will have to pay Rs 3,000, Ashoka said.

Karnataka government has decided to get 18,000 nursing students who are pursuing their final year MSc course trained for the treatment of patients during the course of possible third wave of Coronavirus or Omicron’s probable effects.

Health Minister K Sudhakar made this announcement after chairing a meeting of Directors, Deans, HoD’s and Medical Superintendents of all government Medical Colleges on Friday.

“The service of nurses in ICU and hospitals is crucial during the time of pandemic. There are 18,000 nursing students pursuing their final degree in the state. It has been decided to utilise their services as the health department will get 18,000 additional staff if they pitch in. During the second wave, there was a shortage of nurses,” he said.

It has been directed to get them trained for delivering treatment through digital courses and by signing MoU with other institutions, he added.

The government has also capped the number of guests at marriage halls to 500.

In order to check the spread of the virus, the number of Covid tests will be ramped up from 60,000 to 100,000 per day across the state.

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