Guidelines for New Year celebrations soon: Karnataka minister K Sudhakar

BENGALURU: Health minister K Sudhakar said on Saturday that the state government would soon announce new health-safety guidelines for New Year celebrations. The list of dos and don’ts is likely to be issued on Monday.
Sudhakar said that the health department would also hold a meeting with the home department and frame guidelines for prevention and containment of the new variant of coronavirus.The variant is blamed for a surge in Covid-19 cases in the UK, and it has also been detected in some other European countries.
Earlier this month, the government had announced a ban on public celebrations on MG Road and surrounding areas. Every year, thousands of revellers gather in the area to welcome the New Year, something that authorities cannot allow this time because of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, responding to questions on vaccine studies, Sudhakar said that third-stage trials were underway in Karnataka and other states. “Anyone can volunteer to take the vaccine at this (trial) stage. I have personally appealed to many frontline warriors, especially medical students, to volunteer for the trials,” he added. On the health status of people who have returned from the UK, he said that 14 positive cases had been detected and further tests were being conducted to identify the virus strain. About 2,500 people have arrived in Karnataka from Britain. Of these, 1,638 have been tested.
The swab samples of the 14 positive cases have been sent to Nimhans for gene sequencing, which will help identify the strain.
“This process needs 48 hours. Once we get the reports, it will be sent to the central government. About 38,500 people have returned to India from the UK. The ICMR will collate information from all states and draft a report,” he explained. “All necessary precautions are being taken at airports. We have also made arrangements to test people, who don’t have a negative report, at the airport itself.”