A day after mandating institutional quarantining for people returning from Maharashtra and Kerala without an RT-PCR negative certificate, the BBMP on Tuesday identified eight city hotels to sequester them.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said returnees can choose to stay in other hotels at their own expense. “We have identified eight hotels in various parts of the city for institutional quarantine of those returning from Kerala and Maharashtra without negative RT-PCR reports. The travellers have to stay at these hotels until their test reports are generated,” he told reporters.
Gupta added that the civic body will pay for travellers getting quarantined in the eight hotels. “They are free to choose a hotel with better facilities. We’ll help them identify one which they can pay themselves,” he added.
But until Tuesday evening, BBMP was yet to quarantine anyone returning from Maharashtra or Kerala. BBMP’s Special Commissioner (Health) D Randeep said the civic body had ramped up testing at railway and bus stations at the city’s major entry points. “The quarantine process will begin on Wednesday or at the earliest,” he added.
Randeep also said hotels for institutional quarantine were identified closer to bus stops and railway stations for easy commute and to prevent major outbreaks across the eight zones.
The hotels’ names will be kept confidential and only those getting quarantined will know them, he added.