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In wake of the ongoing spurt of COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday said that the government plans to reopen three COVID-19 Care Centres in the city. The COVID Care Centres were shut down with a gradual decrease in number of cases and as many of the asymptomatic patients preferring to isolate themselves at home. Among 1275 new cases reported from the state on Wednesday, 786 were from Bengaluru.
Incidentally Wednesday marked the second straight day of 1000-plus cases being reported across Karnataka for the first time since the start of 2021.
The CM was addressing reporters after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's virtual meeting with Chief Ministers on the surge in COVID-19 cases in some states. With this announcement, the CM had also ruled out possibilities of lockdown or night curfews at this juncture.
"I don't think there is any need for enforcing any measures like curfew or night ban that were enforced about six months ago. At least now, people should cooperate by following COVID-19 safety protocols," he said.
He added that during the last 10 days, COVID-19 cases in Karnataka were showing an upward trend. "The positivity rate has also shot up to 1.65% as on March 15. Therefore, we have decided to set up three COVID Care Centers in Bengaluru in advance to take care of an immediate surge," he said.
Yediyurappa said that the PM has asked him to focus on Bengaluru, Kalaburagi and Bidar, where cases are going up. The latter two also share borders with Maharashtra, which is also seeing a spike in cases.
The CM also assured that there would be no shortage of vaccines in the near future. "Our PM has assured this to all," he said.
Yediyurappa said that he informed Modi that the state government was aiming to vaccinate three lakh people on a daily basis and it also plans to take up the drive at old age homes and mega residential complexes.