Karnataka govt to scale up Covid-19 vaccination as cases surge

CM Yediyurappa said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding a video conference with all the CMs on March 17

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday asked officials to scale up vaccination in seven districts that are seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases and directed strict enforcement of Covid-19 protocols as experts warned of a second wave of infections.

With cases climbing steadily for the past few days, including in Bengaluru, the state government also decided to keep Covid Care Centres (CCCs) on stand by and hold talks with private hospitals for sharing of beds for treating patients.

The developments came after Yediyurappa held a high-level meeting on Monday with experts of the Covid-19 technical advisory committee and other stakeholders on the Covid-19 situation in the state.

Following an hour-long discussion, Yediyurappa said that the government will decide on further action on Wednesday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a video conference meeting with all the chief ministers to assess the Covid-19 scenario in various states.

“Experts have made various recommendations which will be discussed with the central government during the meeting with the PM on Wednesday. Until then, I appeal to people to abide by Covid rules and avoid going to mass gatherings,” Yediyurappa said.

Also read — Why Bengaluru is seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases

Pointing at the rising caseload, experts who briefed the CM said this could be the sign of a second wave.

“Experts asked us to keep CCCs on stand-by besides holding talks with private hospitals for sharing of beds. In the last 14 days, the positivity rate in seven districts has gone up considerably. Luckily, the mortality rate is under control,” Yediyurappa explained.

Bengaluru, Bengaluru Rural, Tumakuru, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kalaburagi and Bidar have reported high positivity rate in the last fortnight.

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Directing officials to scale up vaccination in all the seven districts, Yediyurappa said so far "only 58% of the frontline staff had been vaccinated".

"Our target shall be 3 lakh vaccinations per day as we have sufficient infrastructure to inoculate about 100 persons per day,” he added.

The CM appealed to the public to cooperate in containing the spread of the virus, failing which another round of lockdown restrictions will have to be imposed.

"Everyone must strictly comply with the Covid rules — wearing a mask and maintaining social distance — and avoid taking part in large gatherings of more than 500 people. Today, about 80% of people are not wearing masks,” he said.