Karnataka Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar on Saturday said the state government was in favour of a lockdown, but public opinion was against it.
“The government wants to do it,” Kumar said on continuing the weekend lockdown throughout the week. “Everyone says it’s best. But, people don’t want it. People want everything to be let loose and that those who’re dying should continue dying,” he said, caustically.
“All people should be responsible. The government alone cannot do everything. People should step out only if necessary. At least, they should wear masks,” Kumar said.
The Cabinet is scheduled to meet on April 26 and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is reportedly going to solicit opinions from his ministers on imposing week-long lockdown-like restrictions.
The Cabinet is also expected to decide on providing free vaccines to citizens.
On April 20, the BS Yediyurappa administration stopped short of announcing a full-fledged lockdown, preferring instead night curfews and a weekend lockdown till May 4. These guidelines were issued soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised states to consider a lockdown as a last resort.
According to Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar, the state government wanted to impose a lockdown. “But this was changed after the PM’s address,” he claimed.
On Friday, Karnataka recorded its highest single-day spike by logging 26,962 new cases in 24 hours. The number of active cases breached the two-lakh mark. Bengaluru Urban alone registered 16,662 new cases.
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