Following the lead of many states, Karnataka government on Tuesday declared journalists as frontline workers. Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa made the announcement, adding that journalists be vaccinated on priority.

The announcement comes as Karnataka reports record-high cases of COVID-19. There were over 44,000 new cases and 239 deaths on Monday, pushing the total tally of infections and deaths to 16,46,303 and 16,250, respectively.

CM Yediyurappa
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa (file photo)@BSYBJP/Twitter

As epicentre of the infection in the state, Bengaluru reported 22,112 fresh cases on Sunday, taking its COVID tally to 8,19,404, including 2,94,917 active cases while 5,17,770 recovered, with 8,847 discharged in the last 24 hours.

So far, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, and Odisha have declared journalists as frontline workers, prioritizing their vaccinations.