Karnataka govt says Bengaluru safe, rules out lockdown for now

BENGALURU: Ending all speculation, the Karnataka government on Thursday ruled out imposing a lockdown on Bengaluru or any other part of the state for now and said the city is “safe” compared to other metros and states.
After holding a series of meetings, chief minister BS Yediyurappa said the government also decided against imposing many stringent curbs except in containment zones and lobbed the ball into people’s court, saying, “It all depends on how citizens behave. If they don’t cooperate (and follow safety measures), then we have no choice.”

Revenue minister R Ashoka, who took charge of Covid matters from colleague K Sudhakar, said Bengaluru will have only containment zones and areas with a large number of cases will be sealed.
Sources said the government’s no-lockdown-for-now decision is guided by two reasons: Ongoing SSLC examinations and the Centre’s guidelines for Unlock 2.0 expected early next week. “As the SSLC exams have started, the question of a lockdown does not arise,” said deputy chief minister CN Ashwath Narayan.
Don’t make statements on lockdown, CM tells mins
Yediyurappa has convened a meeting of the elected representatives of Bengaluru on Friday to seek their opinion on steps to check spread of the virus.
During the cabinet meeting, the ministers were reportedly told to wait till the SSLC exams end on July 4 before the government takes a decision on lockdown. The CM reportedly urged them to not make statements on lockdown or on curbs. He said the strategy to manage the Covid situation would be based on suggestions made by the task force and expert committee.
The committee is looking at many strategies — imposing limited curbs, dusk-todawn curfew, weekend and Sunday curfew — to break the infection chain without affecting the economic activities.
“A total lockdown is not a remedy in the circumstances. Ensuring a balance between perpetual growth of the economy and controlling the virus is needed,” said Dr MK Sudarshan, chairman of Karnataka State Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee. The meeting decided to exempt travellers from Tamil Nadu and Delhi from three-day institutional quarantine. However, travellers from Maharashtra will still undergo seven-day institutional quarantine.
Dashboard soon
Karnataka will soon launch a single-platform Covid-19 dashboard to provide real-time data on number of cases, availability of beds, ventilators and ambulances. “This will help the government make quick decisions and minimise delay between diagnosis and hospitalisation,” said revenue minister R Ashoka.