Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai calls meeting on Covid-19 situation

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has convened a meeting on Saturday evening to discuss the situation emerging out of increasing Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru and Dharwad and the impact of the new strain of the contagion.

The meeting at 4 p.m. will discuss whether the virus spread is from Kerala as that state is witnessing a spike in Covid cases and also about precautionary measures.

The officials of the Department of Health, Disaster Management and Advisory Board on Covid-19, and experts will meet and discuss the future course of action, he said.

Bommai appealed to the public to join hands with the Health Department in taking precautions to avoid the spread of the deadly virus.

Health Minister K. Sudhakar stated that there should be no worries as far as the new virus is concerned. New guidelines will be released and Covid tests will be conducted at the airports and those who test positive will be quarantined.

They will be subjected to another test after a week, he added.

He explained that the new Covid strain Omicron symptoms are more or less like the earlier strains. It has to be seen whether it is more dangerous than the Delta variant. Steps have been taken to supply required medicines to hospitals and enough stock will be maintained, Sudhakar added.

However, the worry is that 45 lakh people are yet to get the second dose of vaccination. When vaccines were unavailable, there was so much resistance, now, when as many as 80 lakh doses of Covid vaccines are in stock, it is not understood why people are not coming forward. If neglected, people will face serious complications, he stated.

--IANS

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