Karnataka extends COVID lockdown till June 14; CM unveils ₹500 crore financial package

Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday announced the extension of the COVID lockdown in the state until June 14 as the state's battle against the second wave of COVID continues. The announcement of the extension of the curbs comes even as Karnataka has seen a decline in the number of COVID cases reported, with the state recording 16,387 new cases in the last 24 hours. Announcing the extension of lockdown, CM Yediyurappa also unveiled a Rs 500 crore financial package. As per sources, Rs 3000 will be provided to power loom workers,  ASHA workers, fishermen while assistance will also be provided to Anganwadi workers, cinema workers and others.

Karnataka CM announces lockdown extension, unveils Rs 500 cr financial package

'To prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection, statewide restrictions have been imposed until June 14. I request that the citizens follow all the rules and cooperate with the infection control ': CM

Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar had earlier said that the state government's primary aim was to vaccinate as many people as possible against COVID-19 in order to avert the third wave of the infection. Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar had urged the public not to disregard COVID safety precautions. The Minister had said, "Our current objective is to vaccinate everyone as soon as possible. This can prevent the next wave of coronavirus infection. If not vaccinated against COVID, there will be chances of a third or fourth wave. An experiment is underway in order to invent the vaccine for children. Vaccines are being given to the elderly and young people."

Karnataka's COVID situation

The death toll due to COVID-19 in Karnataka crossed 30,000, as the state on Wednesday reported 463 fatalities and 16,387 new cases, taking the total number of infections to 26,35,122, the health department said. The day also saw 21,199 discharges. As of June 2 evening, cumulatively 26,35,122 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 30,017 deaths and 23,12,060 discharges, the Health department said in its bulletin.

Total number of active cases in the state is at 2,93,024. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 11.22 per cent, case fatality rate (CFR) was at 2.82 per cent. Of the new cases, 4,095 were from Bengaluru Urban, as the city saw 8,620 discharges and 307 deaths.

Belagavi recorded 17 deaths, Bengaluru Rural, Hassan and Mysuru (12 each), Shivamogga (10), Uttara Kannada (9), followed by others. Mysuru registered 1,687 new cases, Belagavi 1,006, Tumakuru 882, Mandya 711, followed by others. Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 11,70,742, followed by Mysuru 1,45,655 and Tumakuru 1,05,016. In the number of discharges, Bengaluru Urban has recorded 10,17,942 , followed by Mysuru 1,28,757 and Tumakuru 92,428. A total of over 2,99,99,107 samples have been tested so far, of which 1,45,923 were tested on Wednesday alone.