HUBBALLI: Amid fears over the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he will decide on restricting occupancy at malls, theatres and other public places to 50 percent after a discussion with experts.
A potential increase in the number of COVID-19 cases including the Omicron variant in the state may lead to a third wave, say some experts. They have suggested that the government impose strict guidelines to control the number of cases.
For the last few days, the state has been recording more COVID-19 cases. Amid fears of a third wave, the health department increased testing in many districts. For the last two weeks, school and college students have been testing positive for the virus in many districts. This has led to a demand to stop offline classes.
Before heading to Gadag and Haveri to take part in the BJP meeting as part of the MLC election campaign, he spoke to the media in Hubballi Airport on Monday. “Variants including delta and omicron are being reported and we are receiving many suggestions. All these suggestions will be discussed with the expert committee before taking any decision,” he clarified.
When asked about cabinet expansion, he said they are now concentrating on the MLC elections and then the assembly winter session. Later, they will act on cabinet expansion as per the advice of party leaders, he said.
For the council elections, in some constituencies, the BJP is said to be mulling a tie-up with the JD(S). But the latter's top leader and former CM H D Kumaraswamy's statements have been creating uncertainty in this regard. When asked about the uncertainty, Bommai said the ball was in the JD(S) court.