Have invited Siddaramaiah; it’s up to him to come: Pejawar seer

Mangaluru, May 2: Ibrahim Musliyar Bekal, a prominent Muslim religeous leader in coastal Karnataka has urged the Dakshina Kannada district administration not to end the covid-19 lockdown before the end of the blessed month of Ramadan. 

The appeal comes in the wake of reports that the state government may allow opening of clothe shops during the month of Ramadan to felicitate Muslims for Eid shopping.

"Muslims in the district have completely cooperated with the district administration in making the lockdown sucessfull. They have refrained from going to mosque even for Juma and Taraveeh during Ramadan. Such a lockdown is necessary to contain the pandemic," said Musliyar, who is also the Khazi of Udupi and Chikkamagaluru.

If the district administration withdraws lockdwon or relaxes it, people in large numbers may storm cloth shops wherein it physical distancing will be difficult, Musliyar warned.

He said that Muslims in the region have decided to observe Eid ul Fitr, a festival which marks the end of the blessed month, in a simple way maintaining physical distance. Hence the lockdown should be relaxed only after the festival, he suggested.

Bengaluru, Apr 28: With fresh guidelines on the COVID-19 lockdown expected soon, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday chaired a meeting with key ministers, officials and Deputy Commissioners of districts and discussed about re-starting economic activities in the state, as he took stock about of the pandemic.

"At the video conference with DCs, CM took stock of COVID-19 situation and measures taken to control its spread. Discussions also happened regarding starting of certain economic activities in parts of the state," official sources said. The state government would take any decision in this regard after the Centre issues fresh guidelines or directives, they said, without elaborating.

The meeting came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conferencing with Chief Ministers to discuss the situation arising due to COVID-19 in the country, which is under lockdown since March 25 to contain the pandemic. Only nine chief ministers spoke in the virtual meeting with the Prime Minister and Yediyurappa did not get an opportunity.

A senior Minister, who attended the meeting told PTI, necessary directions regarding the lockdown after May 3, they were likely to come in a couple of days.

"Most of the Chief Ministers wanted the lockdown to continue to contain the spread.... nothing concrete emerged, but we expect the necessary directions will follow in couple of days. This is what we expect after seeing what has happened as a followup to three to four such video conferences in the past," he said.

The Minister said the larger opinion was that the current measures should continue and interstate or inter-district movement should not be allowed. Regarding movement within the districts that are green zone, some decision may be taken soon, he said, adding the Prime Minister also asked states to concentrate on reforms, aimed at attracting investments in the days to come.

Bengaluru, May 2: The Centre’s classification of districts created confusion in Karnataka as the state’s own categorisation deviates significantly from the health ministry’s list.

For instance, the Centre put the number of districts in the red zone in state at three, while the state Covid-19 war room puts it at 14. Bengaluru Urban and Mysuru figure in the red zone in both lists. While Bengaluru Rural with zero active cases on May 1makes it to the Centre’s red-zone list, it is in the orange zone according to the state.

In addition to these two, the state classifies Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Mandya, Bidar, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkaballapura, Dharwad, Gadag, Tumakuru and Davanagere as red-zone districts.

State Covid war-room authorities said they would take a look at the Centre’s criteria for classification and take a call. Besides, incharge Munish Mudgil pointed out that states are allowed to make additions to the red and orange zones. According to the Centre’s list, Karnataka has 13 districts in the orange zone and 14 in the green zone.

Sudan said, “the districts were earlier designated as hotspots or red zones, orange zones and green zones primarily based on the cumulative cases reported and the doubling rate. Since recovery rates have gone up, the districts are now being designated across various zones duly broad-basing the criteria.

This classification takes into consideration incidence of cases, doubling rate, extent of testing and surveillance feedback. A district will be considered under the green zone if there are no confirmed cases so far or if there is no reported case in the past 21 days.”