Karnataka government may not permit big protests, gatherings: Minister

Following suggestions from the State’s COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), Karnataka is prone to cease giving permission to carry mass protests involving over 500 individuals.

Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar advised presspersons on Saturday that he would converse to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on this regard. “The TAC has warned that the next two months are crucial for the State, especially as the neighbouring Maharashtra and Kerala are witnessing a spike in cases. Along with strict enforcement of measures on the borders, restrictions on large gatherings, including protests/agitations, social, religious, and political gatherings, and weddings, will be tightened,” he stated.

Asked if this meant that the government would cease giving permission for protests, the Minister stated, “Yes, I will speak to the Chief Minister in this regard. The TAC has recommended that not more than 500 people should be allowed at large gatherings. I appeal to people, all religious heads, and political leaders and parties to follow these guidelines strictly and stop coming to Bengaluru for protests for at least the next two months.”

Starting from Monday, vaccination shall be offered at over 3,000 centres, together with main well being centres, taluk hospitals, and district hospitals. Urging individuals to return ahead in massive numbers to take the vaccine, he stated the goal was to vaccinate 1.5 lakh individuals every day. “We hope to vaccinate all the people of the State in the next two months,” he stated.

Surge in Bengaluru

Dr. Sudhakar, who identified that the variety of new instances in Bengaluru was on the rise, stated, “The city had been reporting 200 to 250 cases a day for several weeks. This suddenly increased to 444 on Friday. Moreover, 12 clusters have been identified in BBMP limits, and this is a concern.”

He added that he has directed the BBMP Commissioner to extend the variety of each day assessments from 30,000 to 40,000.

“Contact tracing will also be intensified. The Central team that recently visited the State has recommended that at least 20 primary and secondary contacts should be traced for each positive case. All these 20 contacts should be tested,” the Minister stated.

He stated the Chief Minister would maintain a videoconference assembly with Deputy Commissioners of districts the place the take a look at positivity price is excessive. “As there are more inter-State travellers to Mangaluru, testing will be ramped up there. Instructions have been issued to Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Udupi, Kodagu, Belagavi, and Tumakuru to be more vigilant,” he added.