In light of the surge in COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday, 29 March, called for a meeting to discuss the matter with ministers and other government officials. The meeting was chaired by the chief minister and Health Minister K Sudhakar, and both denied suggestions of a lockdown or a night curfew in the state.
After the meeting, eight IAS officers were named as nodal officers to control the spread of coronavirus in and around the city.
The IAS officers who were named as nodal officers include Manoj Kumar Meena (Bengaluru East), Ujjwal Kumar Gosh (Bengaluru West), Dr Ravikumar Surpur (Bommanahalli), Anbu Kumar (Yelhanka), Pankaj Kumar Pandey (Bengaluru South), Manjula (Mahadevpura), Dr PC Jaffer (Dasarahalli) and Dr R Vishal, Rajrajeshwari Nagar. Among them, Pankaj Kumar Pandey was previously the Commissioner of Health when the pandemic broke out in 2020.