Hubballi :  All international passengers arriving at the airports were being tested as part of the tightened Covid precautions in the state, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said here on Wednesday.

Speaking to media persons he said, daily about 2500 international passengers arrive at Bengaluru airport and some at Mangaluru airport. “After the experience we had last time, we have initiated stringent measures right away.”

No need to panic
He appealed to the people not to panic about Omicron, the new variant of Covid. People are just recovering economically, socially and have resumed their normal life. “We do not have any proposal to impose the lockdown,” he clarified.

Heading to Delhi on Dec 2
Chief Minister Bommai is heading to New Delhi on December 2. He is set to meet union Health minister during his visit to national capital. “I will discuss about administering booster vaccine dose for health workers and Covid frontline workers. It is more than 6 months since they had their double dose of vaccine.”

The expert committee on Covid is of the view that, “it would be better to administer the booster dose for health and frontline workers. We will discuss about centre’s stand on the issue,” Bommai said.

Strict vigil is being maintained on international passengers. One of the test samples of a passenger had been sent to NCBS to ascertain the exact variant. Appropriate measures would  be taken after getting the report. Stringent precautions were in force in areas bordering Kerala as well, Bommai said.

International passengers and students from Kerala are being monitored with special focus. At a cluster in Dharwad 306 have tested  positive out of which only 2 have tested positive when tested again 7 days later. None of them have any serious symptoms. The situation is under control. About 7000 persons have already been tested in the area. Over 1000 people have been tested within the radius of 500 metres of the cluster, Bommai said.

Stipend for Junior Doctors
Replying to a question about Junior Doctors’ strike in the state, the Chief Minister said that, stipend had not been paid in some colleges due to non submission of necessary documents. Instructions had been issued for payment of stipend to those who have already submitted the documents. All the students would get the stipend in 2-3 days.

Basic infrastructure for new Taluks
Reacting to High Court observation about lack of basic infrastructure in newly formed Taluks, the Chief Minister attributed it to Covid related reasons. Basic infrastructure would be provided to these Taluks in the coming days, he said.

Victory of BJP candidate
Bommai ruled out any possible damage to victory prospects of BJP candidate Pradeep Shettar due a rebel candidate in Legislative Council election in Haveri. “The man who claims to be from BJP had contested APMC polls as Congress candidate. He has no firm stand. He will not  make any impact in the election. Victory of our candidate Pradeep Shettar is assured.” Bommai said.

Alliance
Bommai, when asked about the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, said, “the Prime Minister and Deve Gowda have discussed several issues including the alliance at local level. Senior leaders BS Yediyurappa and HD Kumaraswamy will take the final decision.”

Replying to a question about the propriety of assigning the probe into alleged commission in tender process to Principal Secretary of the concerned department, Bommai said, “it is the engineers who decide allotment of tenders, not the Principal Secretaries. In fact Principal Secretaries are the appellate authorities. So they have been authorised to probe.”