The State government has decided to rope in members of civil society, especially those from the medical sector, to reduce the burden on COVID-19 warriors.
Announcing this at a press conference on Tuesday, Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar said that “they definitely needed a break”. He appealed to civil society to fill their places. An app will be launched by the government to allow them to register themselves for COVID work, he said.
Mr. Sudhakar particularly observed that organisations like RSS, Lions and Rotory clubs could play a key role in helping the government fight against COVID-19.
Seeking to downplay the spike in COVID-19 cases, the Minister pointed out that despite this, the State had lower death rates than the country.
Only 1% of active cases in the State needed ICU facility as well as oxygen, he said, while pointing out that only 143 COVID-19 patients were in ICU.
On the availability of beds for COVID-19 patients, Mr. Sudhakar said COVID care centres in Bengaluru alone would have 7,000 beds in a few days.
