Bengaluru is still ‘safe’, no lockdown for now: Karnataka Govt

PTI, Jun 26, 2020, 7:49 AM IST

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Thursday, June 25 said Bengaluru is still ‘safe’ compared to the COVID-19 situation in other cities and states and ruled out fresh lockdown for now, putting to rest speculations that it was planning such a move in view of the spike in cases.

The government also changed quarantine rules and exempted those traveling to the state from Tamil Nadu and Delhi from three days of institutional quarantine. But those coming from Maharashtra will have to continue to be under seven days of institutional quarantine.

“There will be no lockdown in Bengaluru. It is clear, no lockdown in Bengaluru,” Revenue Minister R Ashoka said after a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and attended by senior ministers and officials.

There will be only containment zones in the city, and regions that have a large number of cases will be sealed, he told reporters.

The Chief Minister has issued directions to officials to prepare for any situation that may arise in the future due to the pandemic, Ashoka said.

Replying to a question, he said for now there will be no lockdown in the city, but hastened to add that the future cannot be predicted.

His statement came amid intense speculations in the past few days after some ministers said the government may have to consider re-imposing the lockdown, eased in phases from the middle of last month, in view of continuing spike in new cases in the past several days.

A total of 1,678 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the city as of Wednesday. This includes 78 deaths and 475 discharges.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the state which stood at 3,408 as of June 1 has crossed the 10,000 mark on Wednesday with the capital city topping the districts in the infection count.

“Compared to other states and cities, Bengaluru is still safe”, Ashoka said, adding that the government was taking all measures to control the spread and even prime markets in the city were recently sealed.

He pointed out that the recovery rate in the state was 61 percent and active cases were only about 3,700.

Earlier on Thursday, Yediyurappa asked people to cooperate by following the measures that are in place for controlling the spread of COVID-19, if they don’t want another lockdown in the city.