Karnataka imposes complete lockdown for 14 days starting May 10

Karnataka imposes complete lockdown for 14 days starting May 10 to curb Covid-19 surge

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday announced lockdown in the state for two weeks in a bid to curb rising coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases. The chief minister said that the decision is temporary and was taken after the state government saw a spike in fresh cases despite the Covid-19 curfew being imposed in the state.

A deserted view of Hosur Road during the Janata curfew amid the rise in coronavirus cases, in Bengaluru. (ANI Photo)

"As Covid-19 cases are surging in the state we felt the Covid-19 curfew was not successful. Hence, we are imposing a complete lockdown starting May 10 from 6am to May 24 6am." chief minister BS Yediyurappa was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

"All hotels, pubs and bars will remain closed. All eateries, meat and vegetable shops can operate from 6am to 10am," he further added.

The chief minister requested migrant labourers in the state to not leave and assured them that this is a temporary measure announced break the chain of transmission.

Yediyurappa highlighted that after 10am no one will be allowed and said that police officials will take strigent actions against violators. "We took this decision seeing a continuous surge in number of cases as well as deaths," Yediyurappa said.

The chief minister earlier had warned citizens that if people do not follow Covid-19 preventative measures then the government will be forced to implement a strict lockdown.

The state reported 592 Covid-19 deaths on Friday, the highest single day count since the onset of the pandemic, and the current case fatality rate is 1.21%. Karnataka has been witnessing closes to 50,000 cases throughout the week.

"If we have to break the chain of infection then we have to initiate result-oriented measures like a 14 day lockdown imposed last year at the start of the pandemic. The state has been witnessing a steep rise in Covid-19 cases with a daily caseload of about 50,000 and fatalities are also going up at an alarming proportion," health minister Dr K Sudhakar was quoted as saying by news agency PT