Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka on Friday, December 3, announced that only those who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to public places like malls, theatres, and cinema halls. Parents of school children who are attending physical classes and teachers, principals and staff employees at schools also need to be fully vaccinated before they enter schools, the minister added.

“Entry into cinema halls, malls and theatres will only be allowed if a person has taken both doses of the vaccine,” he told reporters after emerging from a meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. Speaking about several clusters that have been reported in schools and colleges in Karnataka recently, the Minister added, “No cultural gatherings or events will be held in schools and colleges in view of the cases that are being reported.”

These measures have been announced following the detection of two Omicron cases in Karnataka, marking India’s first two Omicron cases. While one of the patients has already left India, the second patient is a 46-year-old doctor, who has been isolated. Three of his primary contacts and two of his secondary contacts have tested positive. Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing to check what variant they are.

The Minister said that several precautionary measures were being taken in view of the cases being detected in Karnataka.

“We will restart oxygenated and ICU beds similar to how it was done in the second wave, as a precaution. Oxygen plants will be re-serviced to make sure they’re working. A committee on oxygen availability which was in place during the second wave and was lying dormant, will become active again. The oxygen control room is also being restarted and we have given them permission to hire more people for that,” the Minister said.