Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa to take call on extending lockdown to other districts

Guidelines for the lockdown announced in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts will be issued on Monday morning. Chief minister B S Yediyurappa will also hold a video conference with DCs from all districts on Monday, following which the government will decide whether to extend the lockdown to other districts.

The state government has announced a complete lockdown in the two districts from July 14 to 22 recently, in a bid to contain the rapid surge in Covid-19 cases reported in the state capital.

Yediyurappa held a meeting on Sunday morning to review the situation in Bengaluru, during which guidelines for the lockdown were discussed. According to sources, authorities were pulled up for failing to arrange adequate number of ambulances required to ferry Covid-19 patients in the city, which has cast the government in bad light.

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Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Revenue Minister R Ashok said that the meeting also discussed proposals to set up PPE kit factories and other medical industries. "Tomorrow, CM will chair a meeting with DCs from all districts. Based on the case load and inputs from DCs, CM will direct whether to implement the lockdown in a particular district or not," he said.

Ashok admitted that there were a shortage of beds to treat patients at hospitals. "But, we have enough beds at Covid Care Centres. Apart from it, streamlining the beds from private hospitals and medical colleges will ensure that bed shortage is addressed," he said.

To a question, he said that the government will take a call on whether to extend the lockdown based on an expert committee report. "Any decision will be communicated two days in advance," Ashoka added.