With Karnataka’s positivity cases for COVID-19 standing at 16.42% at present, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa told elected representatives, including MLAs and MPs, and officials to make a concerted effort to bring down the positivity rate below 10%.
He also instructed them to bring down the death rate from the present 1.75%. The State recorded 22,823 COVID-19 positive cases and 401 deaths on Friday.
On Saturday, the Chief Minister held an over two-hour-long video-conference with MLAs and MPs, and officials of Mysuru, Hassan, Belagavi, Kalaburagi and Vijayapura districts and discussed with them availability of facilities for treatment of COVID patients.
Sixty per cent of the total number of cases in the State were being reported from Bengaluru urban, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Hassan and Ballari districts. Mr Yediyurappa told MLAs and MPs to work in tandem with officials of the district administration to contain the spread of the pandemic and fatalities.
Referring to the spike in pandemic cases in villages, he said instead of home isolation, patients should be convinced to go to COVID care centres for treatment. He suggested that elected representatives make arrangements to ensure timely availability of beds, oxygen, ventilators, and ICU beds for reducing death rates.
On payment of salaries of ASHA workers, Mr. Yediyurappa, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said salaries would be released in 2-3 days.
On JD(S) leader H.D. Revanna’s plea to release ₹25 lakh for each taluk, the Chief Minister said already the government permitted use of ₹50 lakh under the legislators’ local area fund for COVID management. A sum of ₹50 lakh would be released to each gram panchayat soon for handling of the pandemic.
Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Home and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Basavaraj Bommai hinted about extending the lockdown beyond June 7 if the positivity percentage did not fall below 10% in the State. He said a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister would take a decision on extending the lockdown.
