Karnataka CM assures no lockdown; protests prohibited for next 15 days
Bengaluru: With surging COVID-19 cases, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Monday the government has decided to ban all kinds of protests in the state for 15 days from today, as he ruled out any lockdown for now.
Asking people to cooperate by wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing, he said officials have been instructed to take strict measures against those not wearing masks from tomorrow itself.
The Chief Minister today reviewed the COVID situation in Bengaluru city and other important districts along with senior ministers and officials of his government.
"COVID cases are rising in Bengaluru at an alarming rate, which is a cause of concern.Daily average cases are around 1,377 and positive cases are 16,921 in the last 14 days," Yediyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, he said tracing, testing and treatment is being strengthened.
"In order to contain the disease, I appeal to the public to observe proper COVID restrictions and avoid crowding, otherwise it will become extremely difficult to bring the situation under control," he warned.
Health Minister K Sudhakar, Revenue Minister R Ashoka, Education Minister Suresh Kumar were among the ministers present at the meeting in addition to top officials.
Neighbouring Maharashtra was witnessing more than 40,000 cases everyday, while in Karnataka it is now about 3,000 and about 2,000 in Bengaluru, the Chief Minister said.
Ruling out closure of schools and colleges for now, in response to a question, he said no gathering of people in the name of protests and demonstrations will be allowed in the state for 15 days, and strict measures will be taken with regard to marriages and events fof following the guidelines in terms of number of people attending.
Regarding the by-election related rallies, he said "we will not allow big gatherings, and strict instructions will be given in this regard soon."
Noting that infections were reported more in the age group of 20-40, Yediyurappa said "mortality rate is low and and most of those cases are 60 years and above group."
He said, upto 60,000 tests were being done in Bengaluru city, and 6.61 lakh people have been vaccinated in the city.
Sufficient hospital beds were available,the Chief Minister said.
COVID care centres with 100 beds each have been set up at HAL and Haj Bhavan and a 250-bed centre also will start operations from April 5 at Koramangala indoor stadium in the city. In addition, private hospitals have been asked to be prepared to reserve beds for COVID patients.
Stating that there was no shortage of funds for COVID management,Yediyurappa said Rs 150 crore has already been released and if required, more funds will be released.
"It is a relief that the COVID numbers are low in slums, but it is increasing in apartments, and special vaccination drives are being planned for apartments," he said.
Instructions will be given to control parties or events there, the Chief Minister added.
He said the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Siddaramaiah has written to him on containing the second wave of COVID-19 in a scientific way and by not imposing any lockdown that may impact normal life and it was also discussed in today's meeting.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
