BS Yediyurappa said that migrants coming from other states should be quarantined (File)
Karnataka has seen a sharp rise in the number of cases, particularly in Bengaluru. In response, a one-week lockdown has been declared in Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts starting on Tuesday evening.
But other districts have also been badly hit, with the state cross the 40,000-mark on Monday. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had two video conference sessions with the Deputy Commissioners of other districts to look at the way ahead.
It was decided that priority would be given to rapid antigen tests, which began in the state over the weekend. The district authorities were advised to use these test kits wisely, mainly for emergency cases where a quick result is essential. One lakh test kits have been bought and distributed in the districts.
Targets would be fixed for testing labs to conduct COVID-19 tests and persons with influenza like illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) would be identified and mandatorily tested.
The Chief Minister said that migrants coming from other states should be quarantined and the monitoring system needs to be improved. Booth-level committees will be set up with the help of elected representatives and volunteers for the process of monitoring quarantined people, contact tracing and conducting house to house survey.
Further, it was decided that people above 60 years and those who are suffering from other serious illness would be segregated.
It was made clear that functions and festivals should not be organised and people would be asked to avoid gathering at religious and market places.
In the meet, directions were given to take stringent actions against private hospitals that are not treating patients properly.
The meeting also looked at flood preparedness and agricultural issues.
With good rainfall a high yield is expected, however, there is a possibility of low demand for agricultural produce due to COVID-19.
The district chiefs have been asked to identify godowns for storage of agricultural produce.
COVID-19 infections in Karnataka breached the 40,000 mark on Monday as the state reported 2,738 fresh cases and 73 related fatalities, taking the number of deaths to 757, the health department said.
In was noted that a sharp increase in the number of covid cases had been reported in Bangalore Urban, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad, Bellary, Udupi and Kalburgi districts. The number of deaths have also been on the rise in Bidar, Dharwad, Gadag and Mysore. The death rate in Bidar district is one among the top five districts in the country.