No more lockdown anywhere in Karnataka from Wednesday, says CM BS Yediyurappa

BENGALURU: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday announced that no part of Karnataka will have lockdown from Wednesday, setting at rest speculations about extension of lockdown in Benglauru Urban and Rural districts which had been under one for the past one week.
"Lockdown is not a solution to control the spread of Covid-19," the chief minister said in a televised address to the State. The chief minister's announcement also puts brakes on lockdown proposals before the administrations of a few districts.

"I am in touch with deputy commissioners, and have told them there cannot be lockdowns anymore. They have to bring Covid-19 under control with measures other than lockdown," he said.

He sought to drive home his point that economic stability of the State and resources are critical for the government if it has to sustain its fight against Covid-19. He asked citizens to resume their activities from Wednesday, but with adequate precautions such as wearing masks and keeping a social distance. Those not wearing masks in public places will pay a fine, the chief minister warned.

The chief minister, however, said the government will strictly enforce containment zones where necessary to neutralize the infection.

Yediyurappa said the state has stepped up tracing and tracking, and was now testing 47 contacts of the infected person. There are 11230 beds available in Bengaluru for treatment of Covid-19 patients, he said, and declared all confusion related to availability of beds had been sorted out, and a transparent dashboard is providing real time information on allotment of beds.

He appealed to people not to panic at all on hearing about the infection as more than 80% of cases have mild symptoms, not requiring hospitalization, and just about 5% in need of ICU and ventilator support. "As much as 98% of infected persons are returning home fully recovered," he said.

The government, Yediyurappa said, has taken steps to ensure labs issue reports within 24 hours of collecting swab samples of people, and follow up action taken. "There is no shortage of ambulance. We have taken steps to deploy one at each booth level in Benglauru," he said.

He appealed to Opposition leaders including Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar of the Congress and HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) to join hands with the government in combating the pandemic. He dismissed allegations of misappropriation of funds in covid control-related purchases, and offered to provide documents for scrutiny by the Opposition leaders. "We have to fight the pandemic together. Our public statements should not create confusion in people," he said.