7-day institutional quarantine for returnees from 6 high-risk states: K'taka govt

The Karnataka government on Friday said returnees from six states with high COVID-19 caseload -- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh -- will be kept in institutional quarantine for seven days.

After the returnees test negative for the disease in pool testing, they will be sent for home quarantine for another seven days, it said.

Returnees from other low prevalence states will be asked to follow 14 days of home quarantine, according to the standard operating procedure (SOP) for entry of persons from other states to Karnataka issued by the state health department late on Friday night.

The SOP allows home quarantine for pregnant women, children below the age of 10, those aged 80 and above, and terminally ill patients along with one attendant after they test negative.

In special cases like businessmen coming for urgent work, the quarantine period will be waived if they furnish a report from an ICMR-approved laboratory showing they tested negative for COVID-19, it said.

The report should not be more than two days old from the date of travel.