Marshalls to be deployed in Karnataka wedding halls to ensure adherence to COVID-19 protocols

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 22 (ANI): In light of the frequent violations of COVID-19 protocol in Karnataka, marshalls will now be deployed in marriage halls in Karnataka to ensure that people adhere to Standard Operating procedures (SOP), informed state health minister Dr K Sudhakar on Monday.
"People attending large gatherings are not following guidelines. In fact, people urged me to remove my face mask when I attended a function. Therefore, it is necessary to deploy a marshall to ensure that guidelines are followed," Sudhakar said after a video conference with all district administrations.
Catering service providers will be instructed to get tested for the virus before they render services and not more than 500 people are allowed in a gathering. Face masks have been made compulsory for all.
The health minister further said that he did not want a situation like Maharashtra, where lockdowns have been reimposed in certain areas due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
On the COVID-19 vaccination drive, Sudhakar informed that more than 4.24 lakh health department employees and 1.20 lakh front line warriors have been administered the first dose of the vaccine.
"We are cleaning up registration data by eliminating duplicate entries. We have a target of 80 per cent and 90 per cent coverage for the staff of the health department and front line warriors respectively by the end of this month. All officials have been requested to get the dose," the minister said.
He further informed that Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa himself is monitoring the vaccination drive and will be conducting a video conference with officials this weekend.
"Bengaluru is lagging in vaccination. Bagalakote, Bengaluru, Dharawada have registered less than 50 per cent coverage. Chikkaballapura (79 per cent), Tumkur (78 per cent) Uttara Kannada (73 per cent), Gadag (71 per cent), Chikkamagalur(70 per cent) and Chamarajnagar (70 per cent) have achieved more than 70 per cent. Gadag (84 per cent) and Tumkur (71 per cent) are ahead in covering frontline warriors. Bagalkote (23 per cent), Bengaluru Urban (26 per cent) and Chamrajanagar (27 per cent) are lagging behind and it is instructed to all districts to achieve 80 per cent target," he added.
While there are no restrictions on travel to Maharashtra and Kerala, where cases have been rapidly rising, an RTPCR test report is compulsory for travellers entering the state.
As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there are currently 6,055 active COVID-19 cases in the state. A total of 9,29,800 positive cases have been reported in the state so far, including 12,294 deaths. (ANI)