BENGALURU: Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta on Monday stated that the decision on granting permission for New Year celebrations in the city, depends upon the situation around the rising cases of Covid-19.
He said a clear picture will be known in the next 8-10 days, depending upon the number of Covid cases. So far, no case of the new variant ‘Omicron’ has been reported in Bengaluru, but directions have been given to the Deputy Commissioners of Bengaluru Urban and Rural to closely watch for clusters and also rising cases.
All international travellers are being tested and their samples are being sent for genome sequencing, while they are also under constant watch.
Speaking to reporters, Gupta added that a few days ago, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai held a meeting with the health department, technical advisory committee members and experts to assess the situation.
It was decided that all advisories issued by the World Health Organisation and Union Health Ministry will be adhered to.
In addition, Gupta said that experts and TAC members are also holding discussions every day and expressing their opinions.
The State Health Department meeting is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, where more clarity will be obtained on the prevailing situation.
Meanwhile, a decision on New Year celebrations will only be taken depending on the situation. Clusters are also being reported in different schools.
It has also been decided to intensify checks on people not wearing masks and not following Covid safety guidelines.