The Karnataka government extended the lockdown in the state by another week till June 21. The lockdown has been extended cautiously even as COVID cases dip while relaxing some curbs in districts with positivity rates under 15 percent.
However, the current restrictions will continue for the 11 districts where the positivity rate continues to be high. The decision to extend the lockdown was taken after Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa chaired a review meeting on the coronavirus situation in the state along with senior ministers and officials.
Announcing the decisions after the meeting, the Chief Minister said that while restrictions have been eased in some districts, authorities concerned may take a call on tightening them.
In districts where the positivity rate has dipped below 15 per cent, factories have been allowed to operate with 50 per cent attendance. For the garment industry, the attendance has been capped at 30 per cent. The government has also given a go-ahead to construction activities.
Shops selling essential items in these districts will be allowed to operate from 6 am to 2 pm and parks will be allowed to stay open from 5 am to 10 am.
However, the night curfew from 7 pm to 5 am will continue across all districts. The weekend curfew from 7 pm on Friday to 5 am on Monday also continues to be in place, state Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said while quoted by NDTV.
To a question on how much longer the curbs will continue, the minister said they would hold a meeting before June 21 to assess the situation again and take decisions accordingly.
He said while the daily case count in Bengaluru city has dipped, it needs to be ensured that people follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. "Without the cooperation of the citizens, it will be very difficult. Till the two doses of vaccines are given to all the people, the chances of (cases) spiking is like a hanging sword, so we need to be extremely careful," he said.
The 11 districts where the stringent lockdown will continue are Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Davanagere, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Bengaluru Rural, Mandya, Belagavi and Kodagu.
Karnataka today reported 11,042 new cases and 194 Covid deaths over the past 24 hours, with Bengaluru Urban clocking 2,191 cases.
