With two confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus in Karnataka, the State Government has made two doses of vaccination mandatory for parents of children aged below 18 years who are going to schools and colleges.

After a three-hour-long meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai with Ministers and senior officials on December 3, the government made two doses of COVID-19 vaccination mandatory to people seeking entry to malls, cinema halls or theatres.

It had already made two doses of vaccination mandatory for people working in hotels, restaurants, cinemas, swimming pools, public libraries, zoo, and botanical gardens.

With a few clusters emerging in colleges in Karnataka, all institutions of higher education have been directed not to hold cultural functions or festivals, and other functions till January 15, 2022.

The maximum number of people has been limited to 500 in conferences, gatherings, meetings, and strict enforcement of COVID-19 behaviour in such functions.

The government reiterated that there would be strict implementation of five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccination and enforcing adherence to COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.

The new guidelines issued by Tushar Giri Nath, Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, and Member-Secretary of the State Executive Committee of the State Disaster Management, say that government employees would be vaccinated with two doses of the COVID-l9 vaccine.

Testing has been made compulsory for health workers, people above 65 years and persons with co-morbidities.

Wearing of face masks is an essential preventive measure. In order to strictly enforce the requirement of a mask, Bruhant Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, district authorities and local authorities would impose a fine of ₹250 in municipal corporation areas and ₹100 in other areas on people not wearing a mask.

There would be intensive containment (micro containment measures) and active surveillance in clusters/area reporting higher cases to contain the spread locally, the guidelines said.

Strict surveillance at the border posts set up by districts adjoining Kerala and Maharashtra would continue as per the prevailing guidelines issued by Department of Health and family Welfare.

Any person found violating government guidelines would be liable for prosecution as per provisions of Sections 5l to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under Section 188 of the IPC, and other legal provisions as applicable, according to the guidelines.

Two cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been detected in Karnataka following genome sequencing by INSACOG. The Health and Family Welfare Department of Karnataka has issued guidelines for rigorous screening and testing of international arrivals from countries identified ‘at risk’ to prevent spread of the Omicron variant in the State, which is in line with guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.