Will there be a lockdown in Karnataka again? New restrictions to fight Omicron might come to effect

New Delhi, Nov 30: Despite Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai denying rumours of imposing lockdown in the state again in the wake of Covid-19 cases in some educational institutions and over the detection of new Covid variant Omicron, there is still a fear among people whether the state might impose the lockdown in the state.

The Centre will hold a review meeting with all states and Union territories over the new South Africa omicron variant of coronavirus at 10.30 am. A decision on the new restrictions and measures to fight the new variant is likely to be taken by the government after the meeting with the Union Government, say TV reports.

However, the Karnataka government ruled out the possibility of lockdown on Monday. "We have instructed adherence to strict precautions at schools and colleges, but not to close them. There is no proposal to impose the lockdown," CM Basavaraj Bommai said.

Speaking to reporters here, Bommai urged the people not to panic about Omicron, but asked them to strictly follow Covid-19 guidelines. He said those arriving from the countries where the new variant was found are being screened at the airports and that they would be allowed into the cities only if they test negative.

He also claimed that a negative report has been made mandatory for students from Kerala who are studying in Karnataka and a second test is being done on them on the seventh day of the first negative report. The State government is in constant consultation with experts and the Union government, and precautions are being taken according to their guidelines, he said.

Replying to a question about a person who arrived from South Africa found to be having different symptoms of the pandemic, Bommai said, "The test report of the person has been sent for genome sequencing. Exact variant of the virus would be known from the genome sequencing report."

Regarding the booster dose for health workers, Bommai said his government is awaiting the instructions from the Centre in that regard. "Our concern is that it is already over six months since the health workers received two doses of the vaccine. We will act according to directions from the Centre," he said.