New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday hinted at tightening precautionary curbs to control the spread of COVID-19 as cases have become a cause of worry in Bengaluru with new clusters emerging and also the infections reported in Dharwad’s Medical College have reached 281.


The statement comes as, in view of threats posed by the new COVID variant ‘Omicron’, the Karnataka government issued guidelines for those travelling from certain foreign countries where the variant is detected in a bid to check its spread.


Speaking about the rise in cases, CM Basavaraj Bommai said: “We have observed the COVID spread at schools, colleges and hostels in Dharwad, Bengaluru and Bengaluru rural areas, and increase in cases in neighbouring Kerala. We have to immediately take precautionary measures to control it, so I have called a meeting of Health, disaster management officials, also COVID advisers and experts. We will also discuss about new strain”.


“Not only medical precautions, the measures that need to be taken publicly will be important, they should be taken immediately,” he added, as quoted by news agency PTI.


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COVID Cases In Medical Institutes


Earlier, the number of positive cases in Dharwad’s SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital increased to 281, official sources said.


PTI reported the sources as informing that most of the infected are asymptomatic, very few have mild symptoms, and they have all been kept in isolation.


As a precautionary move, the Dharwad district administration declared holiday for schools and colleges within a 500-metre radius of the medical college and hospital. OPD services have also been shut down there for three days.


Besides this, 12 Kerala students of a nursing college in Anekal on the outskirts of Bengaluru tested positive for Coronavirus, and 33 students and a staff member tested positive at a private unaided (boarding) school on Thursday in Dommasandra near Sarjapura.


All the precautionary measures have been taken at both these institutions, officials said.


The samples of students who tested positive at Dharwad’s SDM Medical College were sent for genomic sequencing.


Informing about this, Health Minister K Sudhakar said: “So far 281 people there have tested positive (for COVID), some samples have been sent for genomic sequencing and the reports are expected by December first week, so that we will get to know about the variant.”


He noted that in the last one week countries like Botswana, South Africa, Hong Kong and Israel, have detected cases of the new variant, and said: “since last nine months delta variant was spreading across the world and the two doses of vaccine we have been administering had the power to prevent its spread, but the information is that this new variant B.1.1.529 or Omicron is spreading very rapidly.”


“There seems to be some concern about it (new variant), but I want to tell people that there is no need to worry as of now. We have already held a meeting in this regard and have given guidelines for airports stating that those travelling from these countries to Bengaluru have to undergo a test despite having COVID test report, and they will be allowed outside the airport only after testing negative,” he added, as quoted by PTI.


He informed that even after testing negative the travellers will have to remain at home and after seven days they will be made to undergo a test once again, and after getting a negative report, they will be able to venture out.


(With Agency Inputs)