Health Minister B. Sriramulu said on Wednesday that he would urge Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to consider continuing the lockdown in 18 COVID-19 affected districts, including Bengaluru, Mysuru and Bidar, and relaxing the curbs in districts that were by and large free from positive cases.

“I will express my view to the Chief Minister in Thursday’s Cabinet meeting. The issue will also be discussed in the COVID-19 task force meeting, which is also scheduled on Thursday,” he told reporters.

Mr. Sriramulu, who reviewed measures at a meeting with department officials, said 18 districts in Karnataka had been affected by COVID-19 and a few such as Mysuru and Bengaluru had been categorised in “red zone” because of more number of positive cases.