Bengaluru went into a weeklong lockdown from the night of July 14 as the government battled to combat COVID-19 cases. But with no sign of the spread of COVID-19 abating, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, is pushing for an extension of the lockdown.
M. Goutham Kumar, the mayor of Bengaluru, on Friday was quoted by news agency ANI as saying the civic body has requested the B.S. Yediyurappa government to extend the lockdown by a week. "It will be better if we get more time to tackle COVID19 cases, we wish for the extension of lockdown for one more week. We have given the proposal to government," said Kumar. The BBMP commissioner has also urged the chief minister for a "stringent" 15-day lockdown (extension of current measures by a week) to break the chain of transmission as all 198 wards in the city have reported COVID-19 cases.
A decision on extension of lockdown in Bengaluru could be taken when Yediyurappa meets ministers and officials on Friday.
Bengaluru accounted for half of all COVID-19 cases reported in Karnataka on Thursday, recording 2,344 infections, its worst single-day spike. Of the 198 wards in Bengaluru, 196 have reported over 50 cases of COVID-19.
As of July 15, the number of active containment zones in Bengaluru rose to 5,598 from 3,452. The News Minute reported, "As on July 15, 6,371 streets and 621 apartment complexes have been identified as containment zones". The South Zone in Bengaluru has the largest number of COVID-19 cases.
As of Thursday, Bengaluru Urban district had 25,288 COVID-19 cases, accounting for almost half of Karnataka's tally of 51,422 cases. The city has also recorded 507 deaths, half of the state's tally, with 70 fatalities reported on Thursday.
(With inputs from Prathima Nandakumar)
