Seeking to further relax the lockdown norms, the State government on Monday proposed, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, doing away with district-wise zones and instead identifying only containment zones that can be strictly cordoned off.
It also proposed commercial activities, including commencement of public transport, in non-containment zones.
Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who made the presentation at the videoconferencing of Chief Ministers with the Prime Minister, said: “50 to 100m around known clusters may be declared as containment zones. We propose to do away with district-wise red, orange and green zones.”
While suggesting compulsory institutional quarantine for international and inter-State travellers, which Karnataka has made it mandatory, the Chief Minister urged the Prime Minister to establish nationwide testing guidelines to determine the minimum number of tests per million to be carried out in each State.
“We must test only those with symptoms and need hospitalisation. We must make telemedicine the new protocol to approach the pandemic,” he suggested.
Mr. Yediyurappa also added that inter-State travellers should be issued health clearance certificate at the place of the origin of journey, without which persons should be placed under compulsory quarantine.
While he urged the Centre not to allow both domestic and international air travel at least till the end of May, he also said that the restrictions on malls, cinema halls, dining facilities and establishments with central ACs should be continued. He further suggested that persons above 60 years and children below 10 years should be advised to remain indoors and stay protected while people with co morbidity have to be protected with utmost care.
Meanwhile, Mr. Yediyurappa highlighted the steps taken by the State to fight the virus, including the increase in the number of labs from two that tested 300 samples in February to 35 testing 6,000 samples now. He said that it will be increased to 60 labs by the end of this month.
He also pointed out the online training completed by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences to 93,700 healthcare personnel in the State.
He also pointed out that Arogya Setu app has been downloaded by about 58 lakh people in the State.