COVID-19 cases have risen, but it’s not fourth wave yet: Karnataka CM Bommai

Meanwhile, queried on the row between actors Kichcha Sudeep and Ajay Devgn on language, Bommai expressed his agreement with the former's stand.
File photo of Basavaraj Bommai
File photo of Basavaraj Bommai
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Acknowledging that Karnataka has witnessed a slight rise in the number of COVID-19 cases since April 9, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, however, said on Thursday, April 28, that it would be premature to term it as the 'fourth wave' of the pandemic. "The rise in cases is being monitored and precautionary measures are being taken," he told media persons in Hubbali, adding that almost the entire state's eligible population has been vaccinated.

"A spike in COVID-19 cases is being reported in Europe and a few other countries especially among those who have not been vaccinated. About 98% of the eligible population has been vaccinated in Karnataka. Attention is being given to administer precautionary vaccine doses in the state," he said.

With the Union government approving vaccination for children in the age group of 6 to 12, he said it has been decided to launch the vaccination drive at primary schools. Stressing that greater emphasis is being given for vaccination, Bommai said that officials have been instructed to ramp up testing, and special monitoring of ILI and SARI cases is being done. If found positive, their reports are being sent for genome sequencing to ascertain the exact variant of the virus. "Already 8,500 genome sequencing tests have been done in the state - over 4,000 in Bengaluru and the rest in other parts of the state," he said.

Queried on the row between actors Sudeep and Ajay Devgn on language, Bommai expressed his agreement with the former's stand. "Our states have been formed on linguistic basis. So the concerned state language or the mother tongue should get prominence and supremacy. Everyone should understand and respect that," he said.

"Hindi is no more our national language," Sudeep had said at a film launch event last week when he was asked how he viewed the record-breaking pan-India success of the Kannada film KGF: Chapter 2. Devgn, who recently starred in filmmaker SS Rajamouli's pan-India blockbuster RRR, tagged the Karnataka-based actor on Twitter and wrote, "Hindi was, is and always will be our national language." Devgn’s comments drew flak from many, who pointed out that India doesn't have a national language, and that Hindi and Kannada are among the 22 languages listed in the eighth schedule of the Constitution as official languages.

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