RT-PCR test mandatory for passengers arriving from South

The Karnataka government on Tuesdaymade it mandatory for passengers arriving from South Africaand Brazil to the state to undergo RT-PCR tests and 14 daysquarantine in view of two more variants of COVID-19 beingidentified in these countries.

Samples of those in institutional quarantine would besent to National Institure of Mental Health and Neuroscienceshere for genome sequencing, a health department release said.

The RT-PCR test should be done by passengers on arrivalat Bengaluru Airport, irrespective of whether they had anegative certifcate for the test before boarding the flights.

After 14 days of quarantine, the patient would bedischarged, subject to two samples tested through RT-PCR,taken 24 hours apart, turning negative, it said.

The government had earlier made it mandatory for allpassengers coming from the U.K., where a new strain of thevirus was detected, to get the RT-PCR test done on arrival.

The release said all international passengers arrivingin Karnataka, irrespective of their COVID vaccination status,should follow the government guidelines on producing the RT-PCR negative certificate.