Karnataka: Two hospitals identified for isolating int’l passengers who test Covid positive

The Karnataka government has identified two public hospitals for isolation and treatment of international passengers who arrive in the state and test positive for Covid-19, according to a health department statement on Wednesday.

Bengaluru and Mangaluru are the two international airports where all passengers arrive from abroad.

“Those who test Positive for Covid 19 shall be shifted to the identified Health Care Facility for further treatment and Management as per the protocol issued by MoH & FW-Govt of India. Hence, the concerned authorities at Airport shall ensure that the required facilities are readily available for shifting such positive cases immediately with no undue delay,” the department of health and family welfare said in a statement on Wednesday.

The two hospitals in these cities are Bowring & Lady Curzon Hospital in Bengaluru and Wenlock in Mangaluru.

The directive comes at a time when the first two cases of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus was detected in India.

The detection has raised apprehensions of another possible wave of infections in the southern state.

Karnataka has also seen several educational institutions, which have been declared as containment zones, as several students have tested positive for the virus in recent days.

The mishandling of positive cases who arrived at these two airports in the past 18 months has led to the cropping up of new containment zones.

The government of Karnataka said that a separate block with a sufficient number of beds and other facilities shall be set aside for isolation, treatment and management of Covid-19 positive cases detected among international arrivals.

“As and when there is information that the Covid 19 positive sample of International Passenger shall be shifted to separate isolated treatment block or ward within the same facilities with due precautions in place,” the order states.,

The order adds that these cases should remain isolated from other non-Omicron covid-19 patients under treatment in the same Health Care Facility.