Minister Sudhakar says Kerala students won't face any trouble
Health Minister K Sudhakar
Bengaluru: Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Thursday allayed fears among Kerala students coming to Karnataka that the new set of guidelines for travellers from the neighbouring State would not inconvenience them. There is a panic among students returning from Kerala to Karnataka in the state borders. "The students from Kerala, who are coming into the state, will not be troubled in view of the high number of Covid cases in Kerala," he clarified.
The Karnataka government has imposed stringent restrictions for people arriving from Kerala. Sudhakar said, "We are concerned about the Covid situation in Kerala. As many as 30,000 cases of Covid were reported on Wednesday. The numbers are not coming down and institutional quarantine for those coming from Kerala is being made mandatory against this background."
However, the State government is being pressured to relax stringent rules, especially for the students coming from Kerala, to attend the all India level NEET examinations.
"It has been felt that one week quarantine for them is difficult. So keeping their future in mind, we have directed the education institutions concerned to quarantine them in hostel facilities available in the college campuses," said Sudhakar.
He assured that care would be taken not to trouble the students from Kerala. "We will keep track of them using the latest technologies. Contact numbers of all students will be collected and they will be monitored. There will be hiccups initially which will be sorted out. Similarly, private companies and industries should take care of their employees' quarantine arrangements. Individuals who enter Karnataka can quarantine at their homes, as the government is yet to reserve hotels in this regard."
Also several people from Kerala come to the bordering districts of Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar for education and employment. They should be vaccinated twice and bring RT-PCR negative reports every week, a circular has also been issued in this direction, he said.