Belagavi: After reports emerged that the Delta variant cases have been recorded in Maharashtra, the Belagavi district police in Karnataka have enhanced restrictions at inter-State border points. As per a report by The Hindu, the Belagavi district police conducted random checks of RT-PCR negative certificates or COVID vaccination certificates, which travellers are expected to carry during inter-state travel.
The move from the Belagavi district police was taken as the Karnataka government had recently issued a circular saying the Delta is a Variant of Concern and district authorities should take steps to reduce its spread.
As per the latest updates, the NEKRTC bus from Ichalkaranji in Maharashtra heading to Indi in Vijayapura district in Karnataka was sent back as many of the passengers in the bus did not have either of the two certificates and were not following social distancing norms.
Moreover, the Belagavi district police sent back the buses coming from Pune, Mumbai and other towns in Maharashtra from the check posts. However, some other buses were allowed to enter or leave after asking passengers without the relevant certificates to disembark.
At the check-post, the Belagavi district administration has put up a COVID-19 RAT testing centre and it is being used by motorists coming from Maharashtra without a RT-PCR test report.
The restrictions are being carried out as Karnataka recorded 1,977 new cases and 48 deaths, taking the total number of infections till date to 28,78,564 and fatalities to 36,037. The day saw 3,188 people getting discharged thereby continuing to outnumber the fresh cases. The total number of recoveries till date is 28,10,121.
Of the 48 deaths, Dakshina Kannada reported seven, Mysuru (5), Belagavi (4), Chikkaballapura and Shivamogga (3) followed by others.
Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Mysuru recorded 197, Hassan 158, Udupi 110 and Chikkamagaluru 109.
Bengaluru Urban district topped the list of positive cases at 12,20,960 followed by Mysuru 1,70,559 and Tumakuru 1,16,680.
Among those discharged, Bengaluru Urban again topped with 1,192,664 and then came Mysuru with 1,65,832 and Tumakuru 1,14,164.