BSY splits up Covid duties to pacify senior ministers

BENGALURU: Faced with a bunch of restive ministers, chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Saturday mollified them by giving them different responsibilities in Covid-19 management.
Revenue minister R Ashoka, who was miffed after being detached from the team, has been entrusted with handling private hospitals along with CM's political secretary SR Vishwanath. Ashoka had recently stood in for medical education minister K Sudhakar for a week when the latter was in home quarantine.
Deputy chief minister CN Ashwath Narayan, who was also missing in action for some time, will now oversee Covid Care Centres (CCC). These decisions were taken at the task force meeting chaired by Yediyurappa on Saturday.
Sudhakar to devise policies, share Covid info with media
Sudhakar will continue to steer Covid management by devising policies and guidelines as well as overseeing the war room and briefing media. “I’ve been entrusted with sharing all Covid details with media,’’ he said.
He added that the CM made these changes to ensure better coordination in treatment for patients in Bengaluru. “The CM asked all of us to work together, besides fulfilling our individual responsibilities,’’ he added.
‘Lockdown not necessary’
Following suggestions by experts, Sudhakar said some members of the task force felt that lockdown is not necessary now. “The issue was discussed and Ashwath Narayan and I told the CM that lockdown is not needed under the present conditions. The CM will take a final call on this,” he said. However, the Sunday curfew, starting today, will continue for the next four weeks. The CM directed taskforce members and officials to ensure a strict seal-down in containment zones to contain spread of the virus, he added.