Home quarantined in Karnataka asked to send selfies to govt every hour

The home quarantined coronavirus suspects and patients will have to send their selfies on the Quarantine Watch, a mobile application developed by Karnataka government's revenue department to keep a track of the isolated persons.

The government warned the home quarantined people that they will be sent to mass quarantine centres if they violate the rule.

In a press release, Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr. K Sudhakar directed all home quarantined persons to enroll themselves and send their selfies on an hourly basis.

"All persons under order of Home Quarantine shall send their selfie to government every one hour from home," Sudhakar said in a press release.

The selfie sent from the Quarantine Watch contains GSP coordinates, which makes the location of the person known.

"If the home quarantine person fails to send selfie every one hour (except sleeping time from 10 pm to 7 am) then a government team will reach such defaulters and they are liable to be shifted to the government created mass quarantine," the minister said in the statement.

Even those sending wrong pictures to mislead the team monitoring them will be shifted to the mass quarantine.

The government quarantine check team during house-to-house visits will use the application and click the photo of home quarantined persons and send it to the government.

The decision comes following complaints that home quarantined persons were violating regulations and roaming around freely ignoring government directions.