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Bengaluru Airport Tightens Rules, Intensifies Testing Amid Omicron Variant Fears | Details Here

Bengaluru: Amid growing concern over new COVID-19 strain ‘Omicron’, Authorities at the Bengaluru airport swung into action and decided to step up COVID-19 precautionary measures by intensifying testing and sanitization process at the airport to curb the spread of the deadly virus. The Omicron variant, which scientists say has a high number of mutations, was first detected in South Africa last week. A World Health Organisation (WHO) panel has classified it as a highly transmissible variant of concern, the same category that includes the Delta variant.

  • The airport authority said that as many as 49 health officials have been working interchangeably in three shifts to check both international and domestic passengers arriving.
  • The authorities have also made RT PCR and Rapid Antigen testing compulsory for those travelling from other countries.
  • Thermal screening has also been made compulsory at the airport.
  • The passengers coming from South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong will have to undergo Covid testing at the airport and those who test positive will be kept in isolation for 10 days.

A family travelling from Abu Dhabi complained that the new protocol of being tested for COVID-19 at the airport is too expensive and said, “Despite producing negative RT-PCR test reports, officials made us take another test and charged Rs 3000 per person.” “We were called back for the test once after we entered,” the family was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

‘Little different from Delta’

Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar yesterday said that samples of one of the two passengers who arrived at the Bengaluru airport from South Africa had tested positive for novel coronavirus which is “a little different from the Delta variant”.

While speaking to the media, Sudhakar said, “One is relatively better and the other, we are finding it a little different from Delta variant. We have sent the sample to the Centre’s lab. We are waiting for final inference.”

Meanwhile, in view of the new variant of COVID-19, the Dakshina Kannada district administration resumed the Covid screening at Talapady Checkpost, conducting RT-PCR tests of those arriving in the district from Kerala without COVID-19 negative report.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai on Monday asked people not to panic about the new COVID-19 variant ‘Omicron’ and suggested following COVID-19 precautionary measures strictly.

It is learnt that Karnataka government has also decided to make second dose compulsory for those working in government offices, malls, hotels, cinema halls, zoos, swimming pools and libraries.

Karnataka reported 315 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths in the past 24 hours.



source https://www.india.com/karnataka/bengaluru-airport-tightens-rules-intensifies-testing-amid-omicron-variant-fears-details-here-5116591/

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