Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai to hold high-level meeting over Covid

Bengaluru: In view of the spike in fresh Covid cases in New Delhi and other north Indian states, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will hold a high-level meeting on Monday to review the latest pandemic situation.

The meeting will be attended by the state's Revenue Minister R. Ashok, Health Minister K. Sudhakar, Higher Education and IT-BT Minister C.N. Ashwathnarayan, as well as the Chairman and members of Technical Advisory Committee.

New cases in Karnataka crossed the 100-mark twice in the last week.

A 100 cases were reported on April 21 and 139 on April 23. In the last 24 hours, 60 fresh infections were registered in the state.

On Monday, Sudhakar appealed to the people to wear masks and follow Covid protocols to protect themselves from a possible fourth wave.

"People should get a second dose of vaccination as well as a booster dose. Vaccination for kids aged above five years will be available soon," he said.

He urged parents of children above the age of 12 years to get their sons and daughters vaccinated.

"The state has started preparing to face the fourth wave. Strict guidelines are implemented at airports and restrictions on passengers arriving from eight nations would continue," he said.

While New Delhi and the other north Indian states are seeing a spike in the number of cases, Karnataka is behind them by two to three weeks, according to the Minster.

By the fourth week, the state will have a clear picture of the scenario in the state and then initiate a response, Sudhakar explained.

"We have to see the recommendation of the Technical Advisory Committee on testing and it is not required to increase the testing unnecessarily in the state as of now.

"We have to see how the virus behaves. It has to be seen whether the virus will not affect the people like it did during the third wave," he said.