Bylakuppe: There is an exponential increase in COVID-19 cases across the country and even in a place like Mysuru that is considered relatively safe tier-2 city. However, the Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement, located at the border of Mysuru district towards Kodagu has not been affected by the virus. Thanks to the stringent measures taken by the people who are at the helm of monasteries. The settlement has been closed to outside visitors since the last 402 days ever since the news of COVID-19 outbreak started trickling from India. Probably following the strict protocol advice from their base camp at Dharamshala in Tibet, next to China — the world’s epicentre of the virus — the monasteries felt the need to ban the entry of outsiders into the settlement.