Covid-19: Karnataka issues advisory against travelling to Kerala

BENGALURU: The Karnataka government on Tuesday issued an advisory, asking residents of the state to avoid travel to neighbouring Kerala which is currently grappling with a massive surge in Covid-19 infections and a new scare of the resurgence of Nipah virus.

“ln view of the prevailing Covid-19 situation in Kerala, special measures are already in place for arrivals from Kerala. Further, it has been observed that students and employees arriving to Karnataka from Kerala though bringing negative RT-PCR reports are testing Covid-19 positive during repeat test and number of such case are considerably high in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi,” according to an order issued by Jawaid Akhtar, the additional chief secretary of the health and family welfare department of Karnataka.

The new orders come hours after Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday morning said that he has asked for stricter measures to be implemented in borders between the two states.

“At the time of sealing the Kerala border, we had asked for vaccination and testing and will make this stricter,” he said.

The new orders are also significant because they come in the wake of the Nipah scare in Kerala. “I have asked our experts to learn everything about Nipah virus, how it spreads and what precautions should be taken and their suggestions. We have already kept an eye on it and will definitely try and do it in a manner to control it,” Bommai said.

Karnataka believes that people travelling from Kerala and Maharashtra are the main source of the spread of infections in the state and has turned a blind eye on political events and other large gatherings of people within its own cities and districts.

“Public is advised to defer their plan to visit Kerala till the end of October, 2021, if there is no emergency/urgency with a view to avoid a third wave of Covid-19 in Karnataka in the larger interest of public health,” the order states.

“All administrators/principals of the educational/nursing/paramedical institutions are advised to instruct their wards who have not yet returned to Karnataka to defer/postpone their return till the end of October, 2021. Further, they should also advise their wards not to travel to Kerala till the end of October, 2021,” the order states.