As states across the country are bracing themselves for Unlock 1.0 and opening up business establishments, Karnataka is considering implementing the system of reverse quarantine.
This is a model that has already been implemented in the neighboring state of Kerala and has yielded successful results in curbing the Coronavirus.
The system refers to protecting two categories of people: senior citizens aged 60 & above and those with underlying medical conditions from the rest of the population.
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The state believes that this focused approach is better than quarantining the entire population as was done during the lockdown.
This seeks to ensure that those being quarantined are separated from their family members who will be going out for various reasons.
According to information available, the following categories of people are liable to be reverse quarantined:
1. Those above 60 years of age.
2. Those who have moderate lung diseases and asthma.
3. Those who are immune-compromised because of smoking, cancer treatment, HIV/AIDS etc.
4. Those who are severely obese (defined as those with a Body Mass Index above 40).
5. Those with Diabetes, hypertension, kidney ailments etc.
The state is embarking on a door to door survey to examine the extent of those who are fit to be reverse quarantined.
According to the data collected so far, there are over 57 lakh individuals who are elderly and over 15 lakhs of them have comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension.
However, experts have questioned the government over the feasibility of this idea and the logistics needed to implement this.
The city of Bengaluru has less than 500 COVID-19 cases till date and has been praised for adoption of pro-active governance to stop the viral growth.
Karnataka has totally 5213 cases and 59 deaths reported till Monday.