Ambulances and patients from Kerala will not be allowed to enter Mangaluru or other parts of Dakshina Kannada for treatment, Kota Srinivas Poojary, Minister in-charge of Dakshina Kannada, said here on Sunday even as Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that no road between Kerala and Karnataka was closed.
Addressing presspersons along with Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, Dakshina Kannada, the Minister said there was no change in the stand of the State government. The decision to seal borders has been taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to Dakshina Kannada from Kerala.
“Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa is firm on it,” Mr. Poojary said.
“There is no interference from any Union Minister to relax the conditions,” Mr. Kateel added.
Mr. Poojary said that vehicles carrying essential commodities are being allowed to Kerala through Talapady check-post.
Meanwhile, according to a State government bulletin on COVID-19 issued on March 27, the 10-month-old baby from Sajipanadu village, Bantwal taluk, who tested positive on Friday, had been taken to Kerala earlier. But the baby had no foreign travel history.
Road opened
As pressure from Kerala mounted, Karnataka opened one more road connecting Mysuru and Kannur on Sunday morning. “There are three roads that connect Mysuru to Kannur. While the road via Gundulpet had not been closed so far, the Manandavadi road was opened at 8 a.m. on Sunday to enable movement of essential services. The road via Virajpet, however, remains closed,” said an official.
According to the official, the closure of Virajpet road would not affect the movement of essential services much since Manandwadi road is just 21 km more than Virajpete road between Kannur and Mysuru.
