Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai justified curbs on travellers from neighbouring Kerala and Maharashtra entering Karnataka saying the government has learnt lessons from the first and second waves of COVID-19.
“Both the waves entered Karnataka from Kerala and Maharashtra, and spread across the state. Therefore, I held meetings with experts and the Health Minister to assess the situation immediately after taking the oath of office. It was decided to exercise absolute precaution in border areas,” he told mediapersons after inaugurating a new Intensive Care Unit at the District Government Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru on August 12.
The government has made it mandatory for people from those two States to produce COVID-19 negative certificates not older than 72 hours before entering Karnataka. “This has been done to ensure the safety of our people,” he said.
Speaking about the ICU, Mr. Bommai congratulated the Health Department, the district administration and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for joining hands to augment health infrastructure in Karnataka. “Every district and taluk hospital in the State would be equipped with adequate infrastructure so as to face any kind of situation,” the Chief Minister said.
CII members donated about ₹42 lakh towards equipment required for the state-of-the-art 32-bed ICU at Wenlock hospital. United Breweries, Diya Systems, CII Foundation, Delhi, Symnox Solutions, Gwasaf, Konkan Speciality Polyproducts, Novigo Solutions, Areva, Kalbhavi Cashews, Spectrum Industries, MMPS, Aruna Masala, Amit Cashews, Kanara Small Industries’ Association and District Small Industries’ Association contributed.
The ICU was built at a cost of ₹1.24 crore from the State Disaster Relief Fund. The hospital already has a 35-bed ICU provided by Mangalore Smart City Ltd.
Later, Mr. Bommai inaugurated the district Ambedkar Bhavan at Derebail in Konchady.
He was accompanied by Ministers Kota Srinivas Poojary, S. Angara, K. Sudhakar, V. Sunil Kumar, Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLAs and others.
