BENGALURU: A whopping 2479 COVID-19 cases have been reported in a single day in Karnataka. The last time cases crossed the 2K mark was on July 29 last year. Bengaluru contributed the lion's share of Tuesday's cases, with 2053 new patients testing positive. Health Minister Sudhakar said the daily positivity rate has shot up to 2.59 percent. He also said there are no new Omicron cases and four more deaths have been reported in the state due to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, stricter curbs can be expected soon. Health and Medical Education Minister Sudhakar said on Tuesday that a meeting will be held by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai along with senior cabinet colleagues and the COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee today at 6 pm to decide on further precautionary measures to be taken, especially in Bengaluru, after analysing the spread of Omicron in the state.
"Measures at Bengaluru airport, micro containment zones, schools, and other restrictions will be discussed. Bengaluru has been the epicentre of the past two waves and the same is expected in the third wave, which has begun in Karnataka. People from other countries and states travel to Bengaluru, hence there are more cases. If we contain the spread in the city, we can contain the spread in the state," Sudhakar said.
He said the state cannot prevent the spread but can reduce the number of cases through various measures. He appealed to the media not to use words such as lockdown as lives and livelihoods have returned to normal only recently. The state government intends to bring in measures without hurting the common people, he said.
On Monday, Karnataka launched the COVID-19 vaccine drive for children between 15 and 18 years and met 65 percent of its target of 638891 kids. They expect to cover the 43 lakh beneficiaries in this age group, with one dose of Covaxin, in the next 10 to 15 days. However, they are awaiting orders from the Centre on going about the second dose coverage.