JOIN USLockdown 3.0 need not continue beyond May 17, if people cooperate and make it a success, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Thursday.
“The government has effectively implemented the first and second lockdowns. But the success of the third lockdown is crucial. Relaxation has been given for agriculture, industries, shops and other establishments. The onus is on people to make the lockdown a success while carrying out economic activities,” Bommai told reporters.
“If lockdown 3.0 doesn’t yield expected results, then it’ll be inevitable for the Centre and state governments to take other measures,” he warned.
The home minister urged the people to comply with the government’s orders on wearing masks, strict quarantine, social distancing, reporting those who are ill and regulation of inter-state travel.
Bommai, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar, Tourism Minister C T Ravi and Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan have emerged out of home quarantine after they came in contact with a journalist who tested positive for Covid-19.
“We tested negative and still went into home quarantine as a precaution. We did a second test and all of us are negative,” Bommai said.
The minister accused the Opposition Congress of spreading false information on the issue of migrant workers.
“The government has not stopped migrant workers from returning to their native states. We haven’t stopped the trains,” he said. “Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal didn’t want us to send their people back. Train services can be made available only if the other states agree. But the states are wary because they’ll have to arrange for quarantine and other facilities,” he said.
Sudhakar cautioned that relaxation provided under lockdown 3.0 did not mean that the Covid-19 threat was gone. “Some think so, but it’s wrong. Coronavirus hasn’t gone.”