JOIN USCoronavirus: Karnataka to close borders, postpone SSLC exams, and elections
The Karnataka government will close all borders with its neighbouring states to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. An executive order to that effect detailing the duration of the lockdown is expected soon.
It has also decided to postpone SSLC and other exminations - save the last PUC exam scheduled on March 23.
Over 8 lakh students had registered to write the examination. Initially the Department of Primary and Secondary Education had decided to take precautionary measures including allowing children to write the examination with masks, keep sanitisers in classrooms and change the seat arrangements to ensure that there was sufficient distance between the students.
The SSLC examinations that were scheduled to begin from March 27 have also been postponed. Primary and secondary education minister S. Suresh Kumar stated that the fresh dates would be announced in the first week of April.
The decision was following an early morning meeting by chief minister BS Yediyurappa, renowned heart surgeon Dr Devi Shetty and ministers in the task force set up to monitor and control the outbreak in Karnataka.
Yediyurappa has also decided to convert the 1,700 bed Victoria Hospital exclusively for Covid-19 cases. Measures are also being initiated to add more government and private labs to test the number of cases in the State. Indian Council of Medical Research's National Institute of Virology is being roped in to ensure licensing for such labs, according to a release from the CMO.
The government also decided to conduct mandatory screening for domestic passengers arriving in the state.
Among other announcements following the meeting included postponing all elections scheduled for local bodies and co-operative societies. The Balabrooie Guest House will be converted to the Corona War Room, according to Yediyurappa.
Yediyurappa said that measures will be initiated to ensure that all essential items are available in the market. He also requested people from avoiding going to the villages for the next 15 days to control the transmission of the pandemic.