There will be no lockdown in Bengaluru, as the city is still in a safe zone and there is no reason to panic, assured Karnataka Revenue Minister R. Ashok on Thursday. The minister further clarified that a lockdown was not an option before the state government as the city was better off than most other cities.
"The recovery rate is 61 per cent and the total number of active cases in the state is only 3,700. Some people expressed their concern over the sudden spurt in Covid cases and suggested a lockdown. But as the economic activity is slowly picking up, many, including daily wagers, have expressed their anguish over another lockdown. We have to learn to live with Covid," said Ashok, speaking to reporters after a meeting of ministers and senior officials chaired by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to discuss the Covid situation.
On Friday, the CM will once again hold a meeting of all-party MLAs and ministers of Bengaluru to discuss the Covid situation. "People who test positive will be admitted to the designated hospital within 6-8 hours of testing positive," said Ashok, admitting that there had been some delay in admitting Covid patients.
The testing centres will avail the services of a fleet of 100 ambulances to ferry the positive patients to Covid hospital for treatment. All asymptomatic patients will be quarantined in the Covid Care Centres, hotels and Haj bhavan," explained Ashok.
The rise in the number of Covid cases has led to shortage of hospital beds at the three Covid hospitals—Victoria, Bowring and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases. "Around 5,000 beds will be set aside in the medical colleges and hospitals. A task force headed by IAS officer Tushar Girinath will streamline real-time bed allotment from the pooled facility," added Ashok.
