K’taka CM says holding discussion on extending lockdown, decision soon

Bengaluru: Amid all indications that the Karnataka government will be extending the lockdown as the state battles second wave of COVID-19, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday said he is holding discussions in this regard and will take a decision soon.

The state is currently under complete lockdown till May 24.

“We will sit and discuss tomorrow, tonight also I’m meeting Ministers, we will take a decision,” Yediyurappa told reporters to a question on extending the lockdown.

Responding to a similar question from reporters, Health Minister K Sudhakar said, “several Ministers are of the same opinion, the Chief Minister is also of the same mindset, and a final decision will be taken by May 22 or 23.”

There is also intense speculation whether the lockdown will be extended for seven or 14 days.

The Karnataka government had initially announced 14 days “close down” from April 27, but subsequently imposed a complete lockdown from May 10 to May 24, as the COVID cases continued to spike.

With the current lockdown ending early next week, several leaders, including ministers, have expressed themselves in favour of extending it, to control the spread of COVID.

They are of the opinion that the current lockdown is yielding results with the number of fresh cases gradually decreasing.

The number of fresh COVID-19 cases in Karnataka is witnessing a decline, as the state on Thursday reported 28,869 new cases, which was outnumbered by recoveries with 52,257 discharges.

However, the number of fatalities continued to remain high at 548.

While the total number of infections in the state so far stood at 23,35,524, the death toll was at 23,854.

Total number of active cases was 5,34,954.

The state during the last two days had reported over 30,000 fresh cases, which was around 40,000 last week.

However, there are concerns being raised about decline in the number of tests being done.