BELAGAVI: A huge influx of people, particularly youngsters from Covid-ravaged Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune to their hometowns across the state in the last few days, is expected to worsen the Covid situation in rural Karnataka. With lockdown imposed for 14 days, a large number of people have migrated to their hometowns in Belagavi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Kalaburagi, Dharwad and many other districts, from Bengaluru in private vehicles, trains, etc., in the past few days.
To avoid the spread of Covid, several private companies and institutions in Bengaluru and Maharashtra have already got their employees to work from home, while a large workforce employed in hotels, restaurants and other businesses in Bengaluru, have returned to their hometowns in rural Karnataka. People there fear that the migration of a large population from Bengaluru could result in the rise in Covid cases.
Meanwhile, Belagavi DC Harish Kumar agreed that a large number of people did return home from Bengaluru and Maharashtra in the last few weeks. “We have been doing our best to identify most of the symptomatic people who have arrived from Bengaluru and Maharashtra and getting them tested,” he said.