A 14-day lockdown came into effect in Karnataka on Wednesday to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Karnataka reported a new all-time record on Wednesday with 39,047 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 14.39 lakh, the health department said. Its capital city, Bengaluru alone accounted for 22, 596 of the total number of cases even as its health infrastructure is bursting at the seams amid a deluge of cases.
Karnataka has now over three lakh active cases of which two lakh are in Bengaluru alone.
The Karnataka High Court has called the situation in Bengaluru "alarming" where the number of beds available to coronavirus patients was not proportional to the demand.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa appealed to the people to abide by the norms to break the chain of infections.
"The 2 weeks strict rules to break the chain of Covid virus have begun. My appeal to everyone: follow the guidelines, cooperate with the govt, stay indoors, and step out only if it's an emergency. Together, we all can defeat the Covid-19 pandemic," Mr Yediyurappa tweeted.
A 14-day lockdown came into effect in Karnataka on Tuesday night to contain the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown was imposed on the day the state reported over 30,000 COVID-19 cases in a single day.
Karnataka had reported over 31,000 cases of coronavirus on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the State Government has placed orders for One Crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines for vaccination of population in the age group of 18-44 years.
The third phase of COVID-19 vaccination for 18-44 years will be rolled out in Karnataka once the schedule of supplies is received from the manufacturers.