Karnataka Makes 7-Day Quarantine Mandatory For International Travellers Who Test Negative For COVID

All international passengers in Karnataka are made to undergo intense surveillance measures after 2 South African nationals tested positive for COVID-19 amid scare over Omicron variant of COVID-19.

A medical professional taking swabs to send for RT-PCR Tests (Image for representation)

Chennai: After two South African travelers tested positive for the Delta variant of novel coronavirus, the Karnataka government has made 7 days quarantine mandatory even for International passengers testing negative for COVID-19. After the 7 days, the passengers will once again be made to undergo RT-PCR testing, according to Karnataka Health officials. 

In a tweet by ANI, a man from Abu Dhabi who returned to Bengaluru on Monday said,  "Despite producing negative RT-PCR test reports, officials made us take another test and charged Rs 3000/person."

Following this, Bengaluru Rural District Health Officer Tippeswamy talking to ANI said, "All international passengers who test negative for COVID-19 on arrival in Bengaluru will be put in quarantine for 7 days."

"They will once again be tested after 7 days and currently 598 such passengers are under surveillance," he said.

All the international passengers arriving in Bengaluru are made to undergo intense testings and surveillance measures after two South African nationals tested positive for COVID-19 amid a scare over Omicron variant of novel coronavirus. However, the samples of the two patients were sent for genome sequencing which revealed that both of them were positive for the Delta variant of novel coronavirus. 

Earlier, the Karnataka government also made it mandatory for passengers arriving from Kerala and Maharashtra to undergo a compulsory RT-PCR test.  The state has also made it mandatory for passengers to carry a certificate for taking two doses of vaccine against COVID-19. They also said that it should be at least 14 days after the administration of the second vaccine.