Staggered unlock will be based on experts’ advice: Karnataka Health Minister

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Sudhakar said some activities will be opened up while restrictions will continue on some activities. The advice of experts will be conveyed to the CM, who will take a final decision after discussions with senior ministers. As per the experts’ opinion, if the positivity rate is less than 5% and cases are less than 5,000, restrictions can be lifted, he said.

‘No alarm on children’

Stressing that there was no confusion regarding lifting of restrictions, the Minister noted that states like Maharashtra have opened up only after reduction in cases. “If you compare (Karnataka) with other states, the second wave has tapered off relatively quickly in our state,” he said.

“Although it has been predicted that the next wave might impact children predominantly, there is no such evidence from other countries which have already undergone a third wave. Even AIIMS (Delhi) Director Dr Randeep Guleria has said that there is no data, either from India or internationally, to show that children will be seriously infected in the next wave of Covid-19,” Sudhakar said.

‘Steps to protect kids’

He pointed out that around 60-70% of children who got infected and were admitted in hospitals during the second wave in India had either co-morbidities or low immunity, while healthy children recovered with mild illness without the need for hospitalisation. “However, we are ensuring preparedness to protect our children,” Sudhakar said.

Regarding Black Fungus, 2,281 cases of the infection have been reported in the state so far and 1,948 are getting treatment, while 102 have recovered, the Minister said.