With the State recording a spike in new cases, the Health Department has revised testing targets in districts where the test positivity rate is high. Besides, the maximum number of people permitted to attend gatherings in closed spaces has been restricted to 200. A circular to this effect was issued on Friday.
The revised guidelines have been issued following recommendations of the State’s COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) that met on Thursday to discuss measures to prevent a second wave in the State. The Hindu had reported on Thursday that the TAC had recommended revision of testing targets in districts where prevalence is high.
Jawaid Akhtar, Additional Chief Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) told The Hindu on Friday that although these guidelines existed earlier, they had been relaxed in the last few months when cases were on the decline.
“However, now as the cases are on an upward trend again we have reissued the old guidelines with some modifications for stricter enforcement. The government will soon bring these guidelines under the Karnataka State Disaster Management Act,” he said.
According to Friday’s circular, the daily testing target has been fixed at 40,000 in Bengaluru Urban, 5,000 in Mysuru, 3,500 in Tumkuru, 3,000 each in Belagavi and Dakshina Kannada, 2,000 each in Vijayapura and Udupi and 1,000 in Kodagu. While RT-PCR tests in these districts should be increased, other districts should continue with the daily testing targets as fixed previously.
Asserting that contact tracing should be given priority, particularly in Dakshina Kannada, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Kalaburgi and Udupi, the circular has said that for every positive case at least 20 secondary contacts should be traced apart from all primary contacts.
Besides, officials have again been directed ensure stringent enforcement of COVID-19 protocols and surveillance measures at the borders (Kerala and Maharashtra).
While directing officials to scale up vaccination and ensure that the vulnerable get the shot at the earliest, the health department has restricted the number of attendees in social, political and religious gatherings to 500 in open spaces and 200 in closed spaces.
For birthday parties/ other celebrations, funerals/ death ceremonies, the maximum number of attendees has been restricted to 100 in open spaces and 50 in closed spaces.
People should follow compulsorily the prescribed 3-feet social distancing norm and wear masks, the circular added.
