The Hassan district administration has stopped the entry of visitors to tourist places at Shravanabelgola, Belur and Halebid in view of the COVID-19 scare.
Vindhyagiri in Shravanabelagola, Channakeshava Temple at Belur and Hoysaleshwara Temple at Halebid would remain closed for visitors till March 31, Deputy Commissioner R. Girish said here on Tuesday.
The car festival of Channakeshava Temple at Belur is scheduled to begin on March 28. The administration would take a call on the festival in the days to come, after analysing the situation, Mr. Girish told presspersons.
The officers concerned have been told to take precautionary measures to maintain cleanliness at the weekly markets where a larger number of people gather.
Malls
The DC said he had ordered for the opening of shopping malls on alternate days. “From tomorrow, the malls will be open on all even-days. We have taken this measure to help people procure essential items.”
So far, 45 samples of throat swabs, received from different districts, were tested in the laboratory at Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences. Of them, none has been reported positive.
The suspected cases reported in Hassan alone are 13. They were all people who recently visited Hassan from different countries. Besides them, 21 people have been kept under house-isolation, the DC said.
As on Tuesday, there were none in the isolation ward in the city. Following instruction from the State government, the administration had set up a quarantine ward of 25 beds. Soon it would be increased to a 100-bed facility, he added.
DHO K.M. Sathish Kumar was present.
