Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Thursday, September 2 said students from Kerala who are coming into the state will not be troubled in view of the high number of Covid cases in Kerala. Recently, around 60 students from Kerala studying in a college in Kolar tested positive for the coronavirus. The state government, however, has received numerous requests to relax stringent rules, especially for students coming from Kerala to attend the all India level NEET examinations.
"It has been felt that one week quarantine for them is difficult and keeping their future in mind, we have directed the concerned educational institutions to quarantine them in hostel facilities available in the college campuses," the Minister explained.
The Karnataka government has imposed stringent restrictions on the movement of people from Kerala into the state.
"We are concerned about the Covid situation in Kerala. As many as 30,000 cases of Covid are being reported on Wednesday. The numbers are not coming down and institutional quarantine for those coming from Kerala is being made mandatory in this backdrop," he explained.
Similarly, private companies and industries have been asked to take care of their employees' quarantine arrangements. Individuals who travel into Karnataka can quarantine at their homes, as the government is yet to reserve hotels in this regard, he said.
A big number of people from Kerala come into the bordering districts of Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar for education and employment. They should be vaccinated twice and bring RT-PCR negative reports every week, a circular has also been issued in this direction, he said.
The care will be taken not to trouble students from Kerala. "We will keep track of them using the latest technologies. Contact numbers of all students will be collected and they will be monitored. There will be hiccups initially which will be sorted out," he said.