Travellers from any state including Maharashtra to undergo home quarantine: K'taka govt

In a significant development on Monday, the Karnataka government revised its COVID-19 quarantine rules once again, quashing the 7-day institutional quarantine requirement for those travelling from Maharashtra. As per the new order, persons coming from any state to Karnataka must undergo compulsory 14 days of home quarantine. The latest modification comes after a review of the quarantine norms in the wake of Unlock 2.0 guidelines and infusion of technology, community involvement to enforce the strict home quarantine. The other conditions and the SOP issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare shall continue to be in force. 

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As returnees from Maharashtra added to the COVID-19 case burden in Karnataka, they had to undergo 7 days of institutional quarantine followed by 7 days of home quarantine. Subsequently, people travelling from Tamil Nadu and Delhi were subjected to three days of institutional quarantine followed by 11 days of home quarantine due to the sudden rise of COVID-19 cases. Recently, the Karnataka government had exempted travellers from Tamil Nadu and Delhi from the institutional quarantine rule and brought them on par with people from other states.

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COVID-19 crisis in Karnataka

With 1925 new novel coronavirus cases being reported between 5 pm on July 4 and 5 pm on July 5 in Karnataka, the state's COVID-19 tally surged to 23,474. There are 13,251 active cases in the state at present. The number of recovered soared to 9,847 after 603 patients were discharged on July 5. The state's COVID-19 death toll stands at 372. A total of 16,899 samples were tested for COVID-19 in laboratories across Karnataka on July 5. Among the active cases, 243 patients are currently admitted in the ICU.

The Bengaluru Urban district recorded its single-highest one-day spike in the number of COVID-19 cases with 1235 persons testing positive for the novel coronavirus. From 8 pm on July 4 to 5 am earlier in the day, a complete lockdown was imposed in Bengaluru city. All unnecessary movement of people barring for essential purposes was prohibited. Meanwhile, the entire state will undergo a total lockdown on every Sunday till August 2. 

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