With a big rise in COVID-19 cases over the last two weeks in and around the city, the State government has reimposed total lockdown in Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts for seven days from 8 p.m. on July 14 till 5 a.m. on July 22.
All the guidelines announced during the previous lockdowns will be in force during this period. Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who is currently under home quarantine, has appealed to all residents of the two districts to remain indoors during the lockdown period to control the pandemic.
Shops and establishments delivering essential items such as medicines, vegetables, fruits, and milk will remain openduring the period, while all government and private buses will remain off the road in the two districts. More detailed guidelines will be issued on Monday.
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However, the scheduled graduate ion and postgraduate ion medical exams will be held during the lockdown period, a release from the government said. The government has already declared total lockdown on Sundays in July.
The Chief Minister is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting with the Chief Secretary, Deputy Commissioners, and Superintendents of Police on Monday and discuss issues related to the pandemic. Later, he is expected to hold detailed discussions with the eight Bengaluru Ministers who have been assigned different zones in the city for controlling the pandemic.
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The eight Ministers, in an earlier meeting, had argued that the city needed another lockdown. “Even experts are of the opinion that it is essential to cut down one cycle of transmission of the virus,” Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar said. During the recent all-party meeting, the Opposition Congress too had urged the government to reimpose lockdown for a few days.
70 deaths in a day
Karnataka on Saturday reported 70 deaths, including 23 from Bengaluru Urban, the highest on a single day taking the total toll to 613. With this the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) in Karnataka has now increased from 1.41% to 1.69% in the last 24 hours.
In Bengaluru Urban, that has reported a total of 229 deaths, the CFR has increased marginally from 1.34% to 1.35% since Friday. Among other districts, Mysuru recorded 8 deaths.
With 2,798 new cases across the State, the total has now touched 36,216. Bengaluru Urban recorded 1,533 cases in 24 hours.