Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai does not appear to be in a mood to review the weekend curfew imposed on Mysuru and other border districts in the State.
Fielding queries from reporters after holding a COVID-19 review meeting in Mysuru on Monday, Mr. Bommai said there was a need to impose restrictions in all border districts and Mysuru district cannot be seen in isolation.
Recalling that Karnataka’s second wave of COVID-19 came from bordering States of Kerala and Maharashtra, the Chief Minister said the districts in the border will be the first to be affected. Hence, there is a need to secure the state’s borders and vaccinate people residing in the border areas.
After Bengaluru, the highest number of visitors in the State come to Mysuru. The visitors to Mysuru, which is a tourist destination, come from not only Kerala, but also from different parts of Karnataka and other States, he said while justifying the weekend lockdown.
When his attention was drawn to the strong opposition by trade bodies and business organisations in Mysuru to the weekend lockdown, Mr. Bommai said he will discuss their opinion at the state-level with the experts.
With regard to the situation in Mysuru, the Chief Minister said the seven-day average Test Positivity Rate (TPR) in Mysuru was 1.19 per cent and the last seven days had seen a total of 763 cases, besides 20 deaths. During the last one week, a total of 1.26 lakh people had been vaccinated in the district.
A decision was taken at the meeting on Monday to increase the COVID-19 testing in Mysuru. “Presently, 9,000 tests were being conducted in Mysuru district every day. We have to increase the tests particularly at the borders and in the city”, he said while pointing out that the city witnesses a lot of arrival of people from not only neighbouring Kerala, but also from places including Bengaluru and Kodagu.
Oxygen
Out of the 14 oxygen generators sanctioned for Mysuru, three had already been commissioned and six others will likely be commissioned in about a week’s time. Mr. Bommai said he will ask the Health Commissioner in Bengaluru to immediately arrange for five more oxygen generators for Mysuru. Separate arrangements were also underway to ensure medical oxygen for ICUs.
The district administration had sought 20 ICU ventilators for children, said Mr. Bommai adding that officials in Bengaluru will procure them for Mysuru.
In view of the experts’ views about the possibility of third wave affecting children, Mr. Bommai said he had asked the Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru Bagadi Gautham to hold a children’s health camp in all schools in each village. “All children in the age group of 6 to 16 years should be checked for malnutrition and undergrowth.”
Children suffering from malnutrition and poor growth will be provided with nutritious food from Women and Child Welfare Department, besides necessary supplementary medicine from the Health Department. The purpose of the exercise is to ensure immunity among the children to counter various diseases including COVID-19, he said.
Earlier, Mr. Bommai held a meeting, which was attended among others by Minister for Health K. Sudhakar and Minister for Cooperation S.T. Somashekar, besides G.T. Deve Gowda, Tanveer Sait, L. Nagendra and Harshavardhan, MLAs.