Chamarajanagar district administration set to penalise mask defaulters

MYSURU: The Chamarajanagar district administration has decided to fine people for not wearing masks and for not following Covid-appropriate behaviour.
After the emergence of Omicron variant cases in Karnataka, the district administration has intensified screening at inter-state check posts at Kekkanahalla and Moolehole along with the help of forest, revenue and health department officials. Testing, tracking secondary contacts and the vaccination drive have also been intensified.
The deputy commissioner has given clear directives to all urban and panchayat bodies, revenue and police officers to ensure that public announcements are made to tell people to wear masks, use sanitisers, avoid large crowds, enter crowded marriage halls, jathras and public functions, additional deputy commissioner Katyinidevi told TOI.
The amount a resident is fined will depend on the offence.
Instructions have also been given to trade bodies that all shopkeepers must wear masks and allow fully vaccinated customers into shops.
As students in some residential schools have tested positive, the district health department has ramped up testing in all government-run hostels. It has also kept all 16 Covid care centres that opened in the previous wave ready.
Instruction has been given to the department of public instruction to ensure that parents of children below 18 years must be fully vaccinated if the children must attend classes in government-run and private schools and colleges across the district, sources said.
As Chamarajanagar district covered 86 per cent of the population with the first dose against the targeted 7.78 lakh for people above 18 years old, the district intensified the drive to cover the remaining people left out of not receiving first doses. District health authorities have also stepped up door-to-door vaccination targeting those who have skipped their second dose despite completing the required gap after the first jab.
Speaking to TOI, district health officer Dr K M Visveshwaraiah said that district health authorities have given utmost priority to testing, tracking primary and secondary contacts as well as treatment and door-to-door vaccination for expanding the coverage amid the threat of the new variant.
District health authorities have increased daily testing to 2,500-3,500, which is more than the state health authority's target of 800 tests daily. It has also kept bed and oxygen facilities ready after stocking enough medicines, he said.
Additional superintendent of police KS Sundaraj told TOI that instructions have been given to all his department personnel in all police stations in rural and urban areas to check for Covid-appropriate behaviour.