Testing must for Tablighi returnees, close contacts: minister

District incharge minister Jagadish Shettar on Monday directed the district administration to do compulsory testing for Covid-19, of samples from Tablighi Jamaat returnees and those in touch with them.

The force of law may be employed if they do not co-operate with the authorities, the minister told a meeting on combating Covid-19 in the city.

“A few people from Kudachi and Raibag who took part in the Tablighi convention in Delhi and have returned. Since many among them tested positive for Covid-19, people in these areas should undergo tests,” the minister said.

A testing lab for Covid-19 will start functioning in the city in the next couple of days, he said. He directed the authorities to provide the necessary medical facilities in areas that have been declared as containment zones.

Suggestions were made at the meeting for quarantining all people in Kudachi town. Rajya Sabha member Prabhakar Kore said ambulances ferrying critical patients should not be stopped at the district borders.

Deputy Commissioner S B Bommanahalli said Kudachi had already been declared as a containment zone. Only purchase of provisions, vegetables and medicines would be allowed, the DC said.

Belagundi and Hirebagewadi had also been declared as containment zones, he said. CCTV cameras were keeping an eye on the movement of people, assistant commissioner Ashok Teli, said.