Shut down Bengaluru for 20 days to curb coronavirus spread: Kumaraswamy

Instead of sealing a few areas, the entire state capital should be shut down for 20 days in view of the rising COVID-19 cases, former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Tuesday.

In a series of tweets, the JD(S) leader said sealing some areas would not serve any purpose and that weaker sections of the society should be taken care of immediately.

"Stop playing with human lives. It will not serve any purpose to seal a few areas. If you care for the human lives in Bengaluru, shut down the city totally for 20 days. Else, Bengaluru will become another Brazil. People's lives are more important than the economy," Kumaraswamy tweeted.

Asserting that "mere announcement" of relief package by the state government for drivers, weavers, washermen and various other sections was not enough, he asked it to immediately supply groceries to the weaker section and transfer at least Rs 5,000 to 50 lakh workers.

"Mere announcement of the package will not be sufficient. It should be implemented immediately. The government should not sit idly by showing a rosy picture," Kumaraswamy tweeted.

The Karnataka government on Monday decided to seal five places in the city from where the maximum number of coronavirus cases have been reported. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa took the decision at a meeting with ministers and officials on Monday.

Yediyurappa had expressed his dissatisfaction over people "misusing" the relaxation after the two-month lockdown. He had also put the blame on inter-state travellers as well as those who violated quarantine rules.

The chief minister instructed officials to initiate police cases against those violating the rules mandated to prevent the spread of the disease.

Karnataka reported 249 new COVID-19 cases and five fatalities on Monday, taking the total tally of infections in the state to 9,399 and the death toll to 142. Of the five dead, three were from Bengaluru urban and one each from Ramanagara and Ballari.

Among the districts from where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban accounted for 126, followed by Kalaburagi 27, Vijayapura 15, Udupi 14, Dakshina Kannada 12, Davangere 9, six each from Uttara Kannada and Bagalkote and five each from Bidar and Chikkamagaluru.