Will impose lockdown in Bengaluru if people don't follow rules, warn authorities

News24
Ajeyo Basu Last Updated : Feb. 23, 2021, 2:52 p.m.

News24

Bengaluru: Bengaluru municipal agency chief Manjunath Prasad in a meeting attended by officials, civic body doctors, joint and special commissioners said that if people do not take precautions and follow safety rules to prevent the spread of Covid-19, then no other option will be left but to impose another coronavirus lockdown.

A total of three Covid-19 clusters have been found in the city recently. One is identified at a nursing complex and the other at a residential complex, identified by civic agency BBMP.

State Health Minister K Sudhakar during a press conference said, “I have instructed all our commissioners to engage more marshals to monitor Covid protocols. There is a marginal rise in the positivity rate in the last few days. It's at 1.27 percent, which is not alarmingly high. At the moment, Karnataka doesn't deserve a lockdown.”

The civic agency chief on Monday told the NDTV that if proper rules are not followed by people to prevent the spread of COVID-19, then, “we could be in trouble.”

"With a population of 13 million in the city, we are seeing a daily rise in cases by 200 to 300. In Kerala and Maharashtra, there is a spike in cases and the concern is we share borders with these two states," Prasad told NDTV.

"A large population in the state are from the bordering areas. People in the city are not following Covid protocols. We have been emphasising that if people don't follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, we are in for trouble in the next few days," he said.

The standard procedures for people traveling into the state from Kerala and Maharashtra have already been put forward by the state government. It is now mandatory to provide a negative RT-PCR certificate before entering into the state due to an increase in the Covid-19 cases in Kerala and Maharashtra.

There has been a total of 70% increase in Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru since February 16. Last time the Covid-19 cases spiked in Bengaluru was in the months of March and July, last year.