JDS legislature party chief and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday raised a red flag about the rapid rise in Covid-19 infections in rural areas. Highlighting that many of the patients, due to lack of awareness, are ending up supplying milk to dairies and inadvertently spreading the infection, he said, “This is a new problem in rural areas.

The Cooperation Department, Karnataka Milk Federation and dairy farmers’ union should take note of this urgently. If action is not taken immediately, the repercussions will be huge.” Insisting that awareness is the need of the hour, Kumaraswamy said that non-infected people only must be allowed to milch and transport the milk to dairies to prevent the virus spread.

“Those coming to supply milk should mandatorily wear masks, sanitise their hands and maintain distance,” he added. Pointing out that milk is an essential commodity, Kumaraswamy said that those working with milk production unions should be considered as Covid warriors and vaccinated on priority.