Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Monday said that marshals will be deployed in marriage halls across the state to ensure COVID-19- guidelines like wearing masks and physical distancing is followed in the wake of rise in cases in the state. Further, he said that catering service providers should be tested before they are deployed for events. Dr K Sudhakar made these announcements during a virtual meeting with district administrations in the state.
A detailed standard operating procedure or a circular on the same issue is yet to be issued by the government. Earlier marshalls in Bengaluru and other urban areas in the state were deployed to check enforcement of mask rule and collect fines in case of violations.
“Meetings and gatherings are happening in violation of the COVID-19 guidelines. We may have to enforce strict guidelines if cases increase. We don’t want a situation like Maharashtra where lockdown has been reimposed in certain areas,” Dr Sudhakar told reporters.
The state Health Minister reminded that entry into Karnataka from Maharashtra and Kerala will be allowed only with a negative RT-PCR test as a preventive measure.
He also said that the state government is trying to improve vaccination numbers. “More than 4.24 lakh health department employees and 1.20 lakh front line warriors have been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. We are cleaning up registration data by eliminating duplicate entries. We have a target of 80% and 90% coverage for Health Department staff and frontline warriors respectively by the end of this month. All officials have been requested to get the dose,” the minister said.
He also added that Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa himself is monitoring the vaccination drive and will be conducting a video conference with officials this weekend. Bengaluru is lagging in vaccination. Bagalakote, Bengaluru, Dharwad have registered less than 50% coverage.
Meanwhile districts like Chikkaballapura (79%), Tumkur (78%) Uttara Kannada (73%), Gadag (71%) and Chikkamagaluru (70%) and Chamarajnagar (70%) have achieved more than 70%.