After three months of restrictions and lockdown, Unlock 3.0 has opened up a lot of sectors. With these relaxations, however, it is important to adhere to COVID-19 appropriate behaviour (CAB) of wearing mask, maintaining social distancing, and frequently sanitising hands, said Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta here on Monday, warning that the positivity rate may spike again if CAB compliance is poor.
“COVID-19 cases have seen a drastic drop and citizens have cooperated with the civic body to check the spread of the pandemic. While we may be heading to resume normal life, we must continue to adhere to CAB mandatorily if we do not want the cases to spike again,” he said.
Vaccination is also equally important, he maintained, and said already 50% of the eligible adult population in the city had been vaccinated. Most of them will become eligible for the second dose in a couple of weeks. It has been proven that hospitalisations of those who have tested positive COVID-19 and have already been vaccinated is very less.
The BBMP is now working towards ensuring that 70% of the adult population is vaccinated by July-end. “There is a lot of demand, but the availability has to improve. We believe that it will improve in the coming days,” he said.
The civic chief said that pregnant women, according to experts, could be vaccinated. “If required, we will consider holding special camps,” he said.
The Centre had already announced that it will procure the vaccines and distribute it to States. “Apart from the State allocating vaccines to the city, private healthcare institutions are also doing their bit in vaccinating the population,” he added.
