All the 10,823 persons from Karnataka stranded in other countries, who will be arriving in the State from May 8, will be quarantined and compulsorily screened for symptoms of COVID-19.
The Health Department, which has chalked out an elaborate plan of action to prevent a possible spurt in COVID-19 cases in the State, plans to make sure that these international passengers go to their home districts only after positive cases test negative twice and the remaining people complete 14 days in quarantine, said Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey.
Addressing presspersons on Tuesday, he said a detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) has been prepared for screening and categorising all passengers at the port of entry in Bengaluru and Mangaluru airports and at the Karwar and Mangaluru seaports.
While those symptomatic on arrival will be under category ‘A’, those who are asymptomatic with co-morbidities or aged above 60 years will be under category ‘B’. The remaining asymptomatic passengers will be under category ‘C’.
Self-reporting form verification, thermal scanning, pulse oximeter reading, and categorisation will be done at the point of entry. History of co-morbidities will be collected and COVID-19 stamping will be done on the back of the hand for those in category ‘C’ for 14-day quarantine.
Those falling under category ‘A’ will be put on 14-day institutional quarantine at the COVID-19 healthcare centre, followed by 14 days of reporting period. Category ‘B’ travellers will be put home quarantine for seven days and a 14-day reporting period. Category ‘C’ persons will be put under a 14-day home quarantine followed by a 14-day reporting period.
Those who test positive will be shifted to the designated COVID-19 hospital. Those who test negative but show symptoms will be kept at a hotel/hostel and be tested again from the fifth to seventh days, and on the 12th day, and if they test positive, they will be shifted to a hospital and treated accordingly, the Commissioner said.
The passengers will also be made to compulsorily download the Arogya Setu, Quarantine Watch, and Aapthamitra apps for easy tracking, he said.
Star hotels
Following a demand from category ‘B’ and ‘C’ passengers to provide them star hotel accommodation on self-payment basis, the State government has decided to allow them to stay in star hotels at their own cost.
Hotels earmarked for category ‘B’ passengers have been asked to have round-the-clock presence of health personnel. Category ‘C’ passengers will be monitored by health staff once a day. At least three rooms in such hotels will be reserved for health staff for setting up 24x7 clinics.
