Karnataka govt rules out lockdown extension, seals clusters in Bengaluru as cases rise

While several clusters of Bengaluru have been sealed amid rising Coronavirus (COVID-19), Karnataka's Deputy Chief mnister, on Thursday, said that the state government was not considering an extension to the lockdown. Moreover, the state government has ruled out community transmission in Bengaluru, inspite of experts fearing it due to rise in the number of cases. Currently, four clusters are sealed in Bengaluru and maximum testing will be done there. Karnataka has 10118 cases and 164 fatalities.

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'No Community transmission in Bengaluru': Health Minister

"Situation is under control, there's no community transmission. We're working with the CM. We took opinion from experts. They're of the opinion that people from outside are coming to Bengaluru so the number of cases are increasing here," said Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu to ANI. 

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Karnataka to completely seal clusters

On Monday, Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa held an emergency meeting with concerned officials and departments.  After the meeting, Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated that the 'only critical cases will be treated at COVID hospitals', while rest will be treated at COVID care centres.  The Chief Minister has warned that if cases continue to rise,  the government may resort to sealing down more areas, urging Bengalurians to maintain social distance and follow sanitisation measures to avoid another lockdown.

Karnataka to seal clusters completely, only severe COVID cases to be hospitalised

Karnataka's COVID rise

On Sunday, Bengaluru registered its highest spike of 196 cases, which has led health experts to believe that they are in the community transmission stage, as per reports. Several cases from Padarayanapura, Nanjangud and many places in north Karnataka were reportedly found with no previous contacts. Experts are mulling on expanding their random testing as they expect cases to rise in the next two months.

As per testing statistics, Karnataka ranks among the top three states apart from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh - testing 13,000-15,000 people per day, inspite of their low COVID-19 numbers. The government has also capped the test of pricing at Rs 2600 and Rs 4500 for government and private hospitals respectively. Karnataka's capital Bengaluru has maintained its low numbers due to its effective tracking, with teams tracing 47 contacts per positive case, compared to Mumbai's 10-15 contacts and Delhi's 2 contacts.

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