Karnataka on Thursday said it has decided to make face masks mandatory in closed spaces, even those that are not air-conditioned. This is in view of the sudden surge in Covid-19 cases in China, US, Japan and other nations.

The latest guidelines mandated masks in closed and indoor settings and the government is set to test all patients with influenza-like illness and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI). According to Sudhakar, the necessary mask rule must be followed in places like schools, universities, theatres, and other business settings.
the government would also collaborate with super specialty hospitals and private hospitals to reserve beds for treating COVID patients in a manner similar to that used during the epidemic’s height a year ago.

Earlier, the Karnataka Health Minister said during the previous COVID-review meeting that the state government will examine Covid cases at Bengaluru Airport and send samples to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) for the discovery of new SARS-CoV-2 strains. he added.