Re-impose Covid-19 Lockdown In Bengaluru For 20 Days Or It'll Become Another Brazil Warns Ex-CM

As the number of COVID-19 continues to rise rapidly in India's IT hub Bengaluru, former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy demanded re-imposition of lockdown in the state capital.

The Janata Dal (Secular) leader has called for a least 20 days of lockdown and warned if not done "Bengaluru would be another Brazil."

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On Monday, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had announced a full lockdown in KR Market, Chamarajapete, Kalasipalya and Chickpete.

In a series of tweets in Kannada, the former Karnataka Chief Minister also stated that "people's health matters, not the economy."

"Stop playing with people's lives. Lockdown in some areas is not useful. Bengaluru must immediately go into lockdown for at least 20 days. Otherwise, Bengaluru would be another Brazil. People's health matters, not the economy," he tweeted.

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"Distributing rations to the poor and workers is not going to resolve the problem. The state's 50 lakh working class have to be paid a compensation of Rs 5,000 each. Also, many drivers, weavers and labourers have not received the benefits of the schemes announced by the state government," he said in another tweet.

"The implementation of the programmes needs to be addressed immediately. Declaring the relief package and not reaching out to the poor is unfair," he said in another tweet.

"Today India is among the countries with highest number of COVID-19 cases and the problem must be seen in conjunction with our high density of population compared to other countries.

A rapid increase is observed in the days following the lifting of the lock-down. The question is, do we passively wait as the country is all set to overtake Brazil?

I urge the Prime Minister to notice that the selective seal-down in containment zones has not served its purpose of arresting the pandemic and to impose a further 20 days national lock down. Lets not put economy ahead of peoples' safety.

I urge @CMofKarnataka to immediately announce lock down for 20 days, especially for Bengaluru. I also urge him to grant a compensation of at least Rs. 5000 through DBT to all daily wage workers including cab/auto drivers and weavers," Kumaraswamy further said in a series of tweets in English.

A rapid increase is observed in the days following the lifting of the lock-down. The question is, do we passively wait as the country is all set to over take Brazil?
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¡ª H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) June 23, 2020

I urge @CMofKarnataka to immediately announce lock down for 20 days, especially for Bengaluru. I also urge him to grant a compensation of at least Rs. 5000 through DBT to all daily wage workers including cab/auto drivers and weavers.
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¡ª H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) June 23, 2020

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This comes as the Bengaluru Urban district has seen a sudden spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.

Bengaluru has so far recorded 1,398 COVID-19 cases out of which 919 are active and 67 deaths.

According to the Health Ministry, Karnataka so far has recorded 9,150 coronavirus cases. Out of the total, 3395 are active cases in the state, 5618 have been cured/migrated and 137 have died due to infection.

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So far, Chennai is the only city has gone into lockdown since the restrictions were relaxed. Despite the number of infections rising rapidly, Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad had said no to another lockdown.