From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Nov 29: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has clarified that the State Government has no proposal to impose lockdown in view of the new Covid variant creating havoc and said there was no need for worries.

Speaking to reporters in Davangere on Monday, he said the government had directed that schools and colleges must be strictly maintained.

However, he said the government has not taken any decision on closure of educational institutions in view of the concerns over the Covid variant.

The Chief Minister appealed to people not to be worried over the new Covid variant, Omicron, but at the same time strictly adhere to the Covid protocols.

Asked if there is a proposal for administering booster dose against Covid pandemic, the Chief Minister said the State Government was awaiting the directions from the Centre.

“Our main concern is about the medical experts and health personnel as they have already completed six months since the second vaccine dose. We will take a decision based on the directions from the Union Health Ministry,’’ he said.

Strict monitoring and vigilance is followed on all foreign arrivals in the airports and testing is being done in airports. Only the persons testing negative are allowed to enter the city. The students and other people arriving from Kerala have been required to produce Covid negative certificate and undergo tests for the second time after seven days, he said.

Bommai said the State Government has directed the district administrations to take steps to prevent mass gatherings of people.

The State Government is in regular contact with the Union government and experts and will strictly abide by the directions from the Centre, he declared.

Pointing out that some of the persons arriving from South Africa have been detected with some special conditions, he said the samples have been sent to the ICMR for genome sequencing.