The Karnataka government has hinted its plans after the end of the third phase of the lockdown i.e. on the 17th of May. The government has plans to go open up more sectors segmentally rather than going for a district-wide lockdown.
The BS Yediyurappa led BJP government of Karnataka would share its exit strategy plan with the central government on Wednesday where it is seeking approval segmental restriction. The government is proposing to impose restrictions on specific areas where infections have been found instead of an entire district. The move is seen as a means to restart social and economic activities in the red-zone areas.
According to Dr. CN Manjunath, a member of the Karnataka COVID-19 Taskforce, the state government is looking for segmental restrictions in all districts except Bengaluru Urban. The government also has plans to reduce the geographical area of the containment zone to 100-150 meters around the positive case. For Bengaluru urban, the government plans ward-wise classification. He further said,
“The strategy of segmental lockdown is to divide a district into segments, depending on the positive cases. It reduces the geographical area of containment to the most possible extent. With this, there is no need of declaring any district as a red zone.”
Expect more cases in the next two weeks
As more people are set to return to Karnataka from other states and countries, the state is expecting an increase in the number of cases in the next two weeks. As per the registration data, over 1 lakh people are expected to enter the state. Dr. MK Sudarshan, a community medicine expert and the chairman of the government advisory committee put some light on the issue,
“The number of positive cases is bound to go up as we are moving towards days with fewer restrictions. But this should not be a cause of concern if we ensure that the fatality rate is under control. The new strategy being prepared by the state aims at achieving this.”
K Sudhakar, the minister for medical education in the state justified that a wide range of restrictions is unaffordable my the state currently,
“The continuation of lockdown will have greater ramification on lives and livelihood, and it could turn more fatal than the virus itself. Fighting the virus and revival of socio-economic activities must go hand in hand. The virus is here to stay and we need to learn to live with it.”
On the other hand, the state is looking to enhance its clinical capabilities as it aims to increase the number of COVID-19 beds to 20,000 and has plans to ramp it up to 60,000.
Source: The Times of India
