Expert committee wants 14-day lockdown, stringent restrictions in Karnataka to curb COVID

Karnataka's Technical Advisory Commitee (TAC) has recommended imposing a 14-day lockdown among other stringent restrictions to break the chain as COVID cases continued to surge in the state. As Bengaluru recorded over 1.5 lakh active cases, the TAC suggested the state government increase the number of beds across Karnataka to meet the demand of patients. The committee also urged the Karnataka government to vaccinate all its citizens before October-November as the third wave of COVID is expected to hit India in the next 6 months. 

TAC asks Karnataka govt to impose 14-day lockdown

"I have on record said that there are two main strategies. Firstly, we need to reduce the number of cases and that will happen only by a stringent lockdown for at least 14 days. Secondly, we should expand the bed capacity by taking as much as possible beds from all the private medical colleges, nursing homes and hospitals", Giridhar Babu, Professor and Head of Lifecourse Epidemiology, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) told PTI. 

As per the TAC, the second wave of COVID in Karnataka is likely to peak at the end of May and the beginning of June. Eminent cardiologist and director of the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, C N Manjunath said he had in November 2020 predicted the arrival of the second wave of COVID in March or April based on the pattern of spread and resurgence in Europe. "The most important is when the cases come down, guards should not be let down. Facemask wearing and physical distancing should continue while most importantly congregation should be banned," he told PTI.

Karnataka records 29,438 COVID cases in 24 hours

Karnataka on Saturday crossed the 13 lakh infection mark since the outbreak of COVID with the highest single-day spike of 29,438 infections, while 208 deaths took the total fatalities to 14,283, the health department said. The highest single-day infection was on Friday with 26,962 fresh cases. The state has now 2,34,483 active cases including 1,280 in the ICU. According to the health bulletin, 10,55,612 people were discharged cumulatively including 9,058 today in the state. Bengaluru urban district accounted for 17,342 infections, 149 deaths and 1,62,171 active cases.As many as 4,646 patients were discharged on Saturday.

Following rising COVID cases, the state increased RT-PCR testing as well. There were 1,89,613 tests done on Saturday including 1,73,400 using RT PCR and other methods taking the total tests done to 2.45 crore, the department added. Cumulatively, the state has done 85,63,208 inoculations