No more lockdown in Karnataka as it's 'not the solution', says CM BS Yediyurappa

In a bold move, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has announced that apart from not extending the current lockdown in Bengaluru, there won't be any more lockdowns in the state from now on. He emphasized the need to restart economic activities and held that lockdown is not the solution to fight the Coronavirus outbreak.

"There'll be no lockdown from tomorrow. People need to get back to work, the economy is also very important. We have to fight COVID-19 while maintaining a stable economy. Lockdown is not the solution, now restrictions will be placed only in containment zones," Yediyurappa said in a video statement on Tuesday.

The CM also said that people who came from neighbouring states like Maharastra and Tamil Nadu following the easing of travel restrictions added to the COVID-19 cases in Karnataka. Maharashtra has the highest count of confirmed cases in the country (3,18,695), followed by Tamil Nadu (1,75,678). Cases in Karnataka, particularly in the capital and IT hub Bengaluru, has posted record increases in fresh cases in the past few weeks.

To contain the spread of the virus, the state government implemented a strict lockdown in Bengaluru on July 15. The restrictions will be effective till 5 am on July 22. The newly appointed civic body commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said on Sunday there was no question of extending the ongoing week-long Bengaluru lockdown.

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Coronavirus outbreak

Bengaluru recorded over 1,500 fresh cases on Monday while at least 3,648 people tested positive for the virus in the state. The deadly virus has claimed 72 lives, taking the death toll in the state to 1,403. The active number of COVID-19 cases in the state has increased to 42,216.

India on Tuesday reported a spike of 37,148 cases and 587 deaths reported in the last 24 hours taking the total number of positive cases and death toll to 11,55,191 and 28,084 respectively. There are 4,02,529 active cases and 7,24,578 patients have so far recovered.