A day after the Centre imposed a lockdown across 75 districts across the country, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Monday appealed to the people to strictly follow social distancing and stay home.
Worried over Bengalureans defying the lockdown order and crowding marketplaces ahead of the Ugadi festival on March 25, the chief minister expressed his disappointment and urged people to cooperate in combating the pandemic by remaining indoors.
Meanwhile, considering the plight of the urban poor who are suffering due to the lockdown, the government has decided to provide free food across all Indira canteens. At the same time, the chief minister has appealed to the people in cities and the nine districts under lockdown not to venture into rural areas and places that have remained unaffected by the virus, to prevent the spread of the deadly virus in villages.
The districts that are in lockdown mode include Bengaluru urban, Bengaluru rural, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Kalaburgi, Dharwad, Chikkaballapur, Kodagu and Belagavi.
30 fever clinics soon
“We will soon launch a mass awareness programme to sensitise people who still appear clueless about the gravity of the situation. Quarantining those people who have come in contact with COVID-19 infected has remained a big challenge for us. We are setting up 30 fever clinics in Bengaluru,” said Yediyurappa, who chaired an emergency meeting with private hospital managements earlier in the day.
“We are keen on public-private partnership to contain the spread of the virus. The private sector has responded positively and besides the 1,200-bedded Victoria hospital—turned into a COVID-19 care hospital—the private hospitals have agreed to pool in another 1,200 beds to prepare for emergencies. In addition, the private sector has pledged to extend 50 per cent of its infrastructure and workforce, if the situation demands,” he added.
“We are taking stock of the healthcare infrastructure necessary to tackle the outbreak,” Deputy CM Dr C.N. Ashwath Narayan said. “There will be a constant supply based on our requirement.”
Meanwhile, Health Minister B. Sriramulu said that 10 lakh N92 masks, 15 lakh triple layer mask, 1,000 ventilators will be procured in this situation.
Karnataka has a total of 23 COVID-19 positive cases.