BENGALURU: To contain the spread of the new COVID Delta-Plus variant, the Karnataka government has collected 600 samples and sent them for genome sequencing, said Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Sunday. The results are still awaited.
The state has so far reported two cases of the variant. He said, "Karnataka is in a safe zone with this variant. But Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are facing a serious situation. We have kept districts bordering Kerala and Maharashtra on high alert and conducting random testing of travellers. But it is not up to the expectation, and we are trying to test a maximum number of people. Lakhs of people enter our state from Kerala. Our government has taken the matter seriously and is testing them."
He said that in Bengaluru, 50 lakh people have been vaccinated and no other city in the country has covered these many people. In Karnataka, 40 per cent of the population or 1.85 crore people have taken the first dose and 45 lakh have completed their second shot.
Priority has been given to students, healthcare workers, police staff, media persons, parents of children less than 10 years old and others in public domain.
Nine children have lost their parents to COVID in Chikkaballapur and they will be adopted. Rs 1 lakh compensation will be given to each of their families and their education expenses will be borne by the government.
Other districts too will follow suit, he added. The investigation into the Chamarajanagar oxygen shortage tragedy is still going on and action will be taken based on the report, he said.