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Bengaluru, Jun 4: All shops, offices, malls, commercial establishments and others in Karnataka must not allow Covid-stamped people to enter their premises before the completion of the prescribed quarantine time, said a top official on Wednesday.

"They should not allow those with quarantine stamp to enter before the end of their quarantine period or till they get current Covid negative test report," ordered Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar.

Bhaskar has also issued the order to all religious places, hotels and others to first check for quarantine stamp on all their customers or visitors before they enter the premises.

"All shops, commercial establishments, offices, factories, malls, religious places, hotels and etc.. are required to check for quarantine stamp on all their customers or visitors before they enter the premises," he said.

In the event of a violation, Bhaskar said the police should be informed at 100.

He issued the same order to the general public and resident welfare associations asking them to be vigilant.

"General public and resident welfare associations are advised to report any violation of the quarantine in their neighbourhood to the police at telephone number 100," said the chief secretary.

The orders came under the head aRole of general public, resident welfare associations and commercial establishments''.

General public, commercial establishments and resident welfare associations have been empowered to report quarantine violations at a time when many activities are set to reopen from June 8 as part of Unlock - 1, after more than two months of lockdown.

New Delhi, Jun 13: Loss of smell or taste has been added to the list of COVID-19 symptoms, according to the revised clinical management protocols released by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday.

The ministry said that coronavirus-infected patients reporting to various COVID-19 treatment facilities have been reporting symptoms like fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, expectoration, myalgia, rhinorrhea, sore throat and diarrhea.

They have also complained of loss of smell (anosmia) or loss of taste (ageusia) preceding the onset of respiratory symptoms.

Older people and immune-suppressed patients in particular may present with atypical symptoms such as fatigue, reduced alertness, reduced mobility, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, delirium, and absence of fever, the ministry said.

Children might not have reported fever or cough as frequently as adults.

The US's national public health institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), had in early May incorporated "a new loss of taste or smell" in the list of COVID-19 symptoms.

According to the data from Integrated Health Information Platform and Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, portal case investigation forms for COVID 19 (n=15,366), the details on the signs and symptoms reported are (as on June 11), fever (27 per cent), cough (21 pc), sore throat (10 pc), breathlessness (8 pc), Weakness (7 pc), running nose (3pc ) and others 24 pc.

According to the health ministry, people infected by the novel coronavirus are the main source of infection.

Direct person-to-person transmission occurs through close contact, mainly through respiratory droplets that are released when the infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks.

These droplets may also land on surfaces, where the virus remains viable. Infection can also occur if a person touches an infected surface and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.

The median incubation period is 5.1 days (range 2–14 days). The precise interval during which an individual with COVID-19 is infectious is uncertain.

As per the current evidence, the period of infectivity starts 2 days prior to onset of symptoms and lasts up to 8 days.

The extent and role played by pre-clinical/ asymptomatic infections in transmission still remain under investigation.

Tightening control over companies misleading advertisements of medicines and products, the Indian government could soon slap a fine of up to Rs10 lakh and up to two years' imprisonment. While repeat offender could be fined up to Rs50 and imprisonment up to five years.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's new draft of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) (Amendment) Bill, 2020, provides extremely stringent penalties compared to the current law.

Under the new Act, companies advertising medicines and products falsely claiming to make a person fairer, improve height and memory or cure issues like hair loss or greying and premature ageing, among several others, may attract more stringent fines and jail time.

The current Act, 1954, leaves scope for companies to create deceptive advertisements as first time offender can be jailed for six months while repeat offender can be up to one year in prison, reported The Indian Express.

Under the Bill, deceptive advertisements will cover digital advertising, notice, circular, label, wrapper, invoice, banner and poster, among others. The government also plans to expand the scope of the law under the proposed amendments to cover 24 more deceptive claims not included in the current law, like medicines that can cure AIDS, change the sex of a foetus, among others, reported Livemint.