The Karnataka government has revised quarantine rules for interstate travellers, scrapping the seven-day institutional quarantine mandated for travellers coming to the state from Maharashtra.
The new rules state that travellers coming to Karnataka from other states, including Maharashtra, will be placed in 14-day home quarantine.
Swabs of the travellers will be taken if they develop symptoms during the home quarantine period.
Testing will be mandatory for symptomatic persons arriving in Karnataka from any other state. This is not limited to travellers from Maharashtra alone.
The state government had earlier on June 8 mandated a three-day institutional quarantine period for travellers coming from Tamil Nadu and New Delhi. This was revised in an order issued on June 26, which restricted institutional quarantine for only those travellers who returned from Maharashtra.
This rule has now been revised and interstate travellers will now undergo home quarantine for two weeks upon their arrival in the state.
Data shared by the Karnataka government's COVID-19 war room showed that people returning from Maharashtra accounted for the most number of COVID-19 cases in the state (among those with travel history).
"The quarantine norms are regularly reviewed and calibrated with the prevailing Unlock 2 guidelines, infusion of technology and community involvement to enforce strict home quarantine," read the notification issued by Manjunath Prasad, nodal officer for inter-state travel from Karnataka.
Officials in Bengaluru are exploring ways to intensify home quarantine rules and take action against violators. Until June 20, there were more than 1.3 lakh home quarantine violations in the state, with the highest being in Bengaluru.
Karnataka has reported 23474 cases so far of which 13251 are active cases. A sharp spike in cases has been reported in Bengaluru in the past week with the city now grappling with 9580 cases of which 8167 cases are currently active cases.
The city has also recorded 145 of the 372 deaths of COVID-19 patients in the state.