No extension of lockdown in Bengaluru after Monday

Bengaluru, July 19 (SocialNews.XYZ) Allaying fears of the lockdown continuing, a top city civic body official on Sunday said it would not be extended after Monday.

"As the 9-day renewed lockdown in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts ends at 5am on Tuesday, permitted activities will be allowed to be resumed in non-containment areas from the same morning," Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palika Commissioner N. Manjunatha Prasad told reporters here.

The senior IAS officer (Prasad) returned to head the city civic body after its incumbent B.H. Anil Kumar was suddenly transferred on Saturday to head the department of public sector enterprises.

Prasad, however, will continue to be the revenue secretary and head of the state disaster management authority to lead the fight against Covid. He was the BBMP Commissioner till July 2019.

"Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa already said on Friday that the lockdown will not be extended as it was not the solution to contain the pandemic. It will be lifted after Monday," asserted Prasad.

Lockdown was re-imposed across the city on July 14 night (8 p.m.) after its extended phase was lifted on June 1 for unlocking the city and reviving normal activities as per the guidelines of the Union Minister of Home Affairs.

The number of corona virus cases has been surging since June 1 when unlock 1.0 began to revive the sagging economy. Increasing movement of denizens, violation of safety guidelines and influx of people from Covid-hit states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu into the tech city accelerated positive cases.

Of the record 4,120 new cases reported across the state on Sunday, 2,156 were from Bengaluru, taking its Covid tally to 31,777, including 24,316 active after 6,793 were discharge so far, with 253 during the day, while 667 succumbed to the infection till date, with 36 in the last 24 hours.

Source: IANS