No state-wide lockdown in Karnataka for now: K Sudhakar

After the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced weekend curfew and additional curbs, Health Minister K Sudhakar has clarified that “there is no question of imposing a lockdown” in the state.

From August 6, onwards the Karnataka government has imposed weekend curfew in the border districts of the state and additional curbs across the state to stop the spread of Covid-19 virus.

“As of now, there is no question of imposing a lockdown across the state. We don’t have such a situation here,” Sudhakar said to The New Indian Express in an interview.

Read | Bommanahalli battles Covid-19 cases driven by migrant population

He also said, “We have already imposed a night curfew across the state and the restrictions like the curbs on large gatherings and other potential risks are already in place,” adding, “We will monitor the situation on a day-to-day basis and take appropriate decisions based on the opinions of experts and recommendations of the TAC.”

The state government has increased the night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am which was previously from 10 pm to 5 am.

Noting that there is a rise in the number of cases in Mangaluru, Udupi, Kodagu, Hassan and Chikmagalur districts, he said, “We are closely monitoring the situation.”

He also mentioned that there are 162 micro-containment zones in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and 65 per cent of Bangaluru’s micro-containment zones are in Mahadevapura, East and Bommanahalli zones.

Denying the claims of vaccine shortage in Karnataka, he said that the state has administered more than 3.23 crore doses and has received 12.24 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine so far in August.

“So, there is no shortage of vaccines and, as I said earlier, we are confident of fully vaccinating the entire adult population in the state by the year-end,” Sudhakar said.