E-Paper
Karnataka to double number of vaccinations to tackle Covid-19 surge
The total number of active Covid- 19 cases in Bengaluru rose to 9300, inching towards the dangerous mark that had threatened to cripple the healthcare infrastructure of the city and state in August and September last year.
The surge of Covid- 19 cases in India’s IT capital continued as Bengaluru accounted for 1037 new cases on Saturday out of the total 1715 across Karnataka.
The total number of active Covid- 19 cases in Bengaluru rose to 9300, inching towards the dangerous mark that had threatened to cripple the healthcare infrastructure of the city and state in August and September last year. There were 13,493 active cases across Karnataka then.
“Citizens and the government should obey the advice of the Technical Advisory Committee. The virus equally harms all kinds of activities. The government is doing whatever it can. Strict restrictions are being avoided to ensure that there is no inconvenience for day to day activities of people and economy,” K Sudhakar, Karnataka’s health & family welfare and medical education minister said on Sunday.
Sudhakar said that he would request the chief minister to convene an all-party meeting on the issue.
Several localities like Bellandur, Shanthala Nagar, HSR Layout among others have shown a sharp spike in Covid- 19 cases.
There are 15 containment zones in Bengaluru, according to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, the city’s civic body).
Several parts of India have seen a surge in cases since March and states like Punjab have relapsed into reinstating restrictions to contain the spread of the disease. Karnataka has refused to bring back restrictions as the cash-starved state, like many others, is yet to recover from the impact of the lockdown last year.
After witnessing a decline from November, Bengaluru and the rest of the state went about its daily activities with little concern about the virus that remained just as potent as it was when it struck the southern state in March last year.
Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa had blamed people coming from neighbouring states like Kerala and Maharashtra and cited that as the main reason for the spike as the border districts recorded a sharp surge. There were 20 cases in Belagavi, 61 in Bidar, 54 in Dakshina Kannada, 41 in Kalaburagi, 70 in Mysuru and 38 in Tumakuru.
The coastal district of Udupi recorded 170 new cases. Udupi is home to several large universities and has taken a decision to suspend physical classes on account of the surge.
Though the state government has made Covid-19 negative certificates mandatory for people coming from Kerala and Maharashtra, there are few checks being conducted, according to locals.
CM Yediyurappa has proposed to double the number of vaccinations from around 1.5 lakh to 3 lakh to help contain the spread.
The state has so far vaccinated over 24.67 lakh people since January 16.
