All the staff and visitors to public offices will be screened using a thermal scanner. An order by the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare stated that people will be screened at the entry point of public offices between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Screening will take place near the door-frame metal detectors where possible.
Some of the places where mandatory thermal screening will be introduced include the Vidhana Soudha, High Court of Karnataka as well as its Kalaburagi and Dharwad Benches, Vikasa Soudha, M.S. Building, Legislators’ Home, and the city civil courts.
The Chief Justice of Karnataka has also been briefed about the situation, said the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
Screening will be conducted by staff nurses. An ambulance will be stationed nearby so that those with fever or other symptoms can be shifted to the closest government hospital for preliminary clinical assessment by the duty doctor.
Staff will be given two sets of N95 masks, gloves, sanitisers, soap, and drinking water, the order stated. The department will also conduct awareness programmes at bus depots in Bengaluru.
The government has also set up a COVID-19 coordination committee, which includes representatives of private hospitals. P.O. Prakash, Director, Department of Health and Family Welfare, is the chairman of the committee.
