The Karnataka government has announced that all passengers arriving in the state from abroad will be quarantined for 15 days. The decision was communicated on the floor of the Karnataka Assembly by Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Wednesday.
"All international passengers who come to Bengaluru and Karnataka should be separated for 15 days...To separate them, government medical colleges or hospitals near airports, private college or hospitals near airport, or budget hotels or resorts near airports will be used," K Sudhakar stated.
Officials in the Health and Family Welfare Department told TNM that isolation of all international passengers "will begin at the earliest" and that the department is preparing for the logistics of it.
Sudhakar further added that all international passengers arriving in the state will be stamped. Low-risk passengers who will be sent for home quarantine will be stamped with inedible ink which will indicate the last day of the quarantine period.
"Over 20 lakh people are working in the Information Technology (IT) sector in Bengaluru and a number of people are coming in from other countries. There can be no question of compromising on quarantine measures," Sudhakar added.
The decision marks a significant shift in Karnataka's handling of its international arrivals. Until now, passengers arriving from a list of seven countries (China, South Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Iran) were screened at the airport. If they were found to be symptomatic- fever, cough, breathing difficult- they were shifted to an isolation facility designated by the government for 15 days.
If they were asymptomatic, they were divided into high risk and low risk categories. High risk category included people over the age of 60 and those who had comorbid ailments, and they were kept in quarantine in a public facility. People in the low risk category were advised home quarantine for 15 days.
Officials at the Bengaluru International Airport told TNM that arrivals of international passengers had reduced to 5000-6000 per day as of March 15. This is expected to reduce further following the decision to announce a mandatory quarantine period in hospitals for all international passengers arriving in the state.
Starting today, the Indian government has barred the entry of all passengers coming from European Union, European Free Trade Association Turkey, United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Philippines and Malaysia.