Lockdown relaxed in 16 Karnataka districts; hotels and restaurants can open

The new relaxations are applicable to 16 districts - Bengaluru urban, Uttara Kannada, Belagavi, Mandya, Koppala, Chikkaballapur, Tumkur, Kolar, Gadag, Raichur, Bagalkote, Kalaburagi, Haveri, Ramnagara, Yadagiri and Bidar.

BENGALURU: The Karnataka government on Saturday announced new relaxations to the Covid lockdown in 16 districts where the infection positivity rate has dropped to less than 5%, allowing hotels and restaurants to open with 50% capacity and shops to stay open till 5pm. The 16 districts include Bengaluru city.

Covid lockdown in Karnataka: The government had eased some restrictions last week including allowing public parks to reopen in Bengaluru. (PTI)

A statement issued by Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s office said the chief minister took the decision to relax the lockdown norms on the recommendation of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).

Night curfew between 7pm to 5am and the weekend curfew will continue throughout the state.

The first set of relaxations announced are applicable to 16 districts - Bengaluru urban, Uttara Kannada, Belagavi, Mandya, Koppala, Chikkaballapur, Tumkur, Kolar, Gadag, Raichur, Bagalkote, Kalaburagi, Haveri, Ramnagara, Yadagiri and Bidar.

In these districts, all shops can stay open till 5pm. People can also eat out at hotels, clubs, restaurants on the condition that they operate at 50% of their capacity. These establishments, however, cannot serve liquor or switch on the air-conditioners.

Government and private offices are also permitted to work with 50% capacity.

On June 11, the government allowed districts with a positivity rate of more than 5% to keep essential services open till 2 pm. Besides, selected industries and offices were allowed to open. These districts are Hassan, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Shimoga, Chamrajngagar, Chikmagalur, Bangalore rural, Davanagere, Kodagu, Dharwad, Bellari, Chitradurga and Vijayapura.

The lockdown will continue without any relaxations in Mysuru, Karnataka’s only district with a positivity rate of more than 10%.

On Saturday, Karnataka reported 5,815 new Covid cases taking the number of active cases to 1,30,872. The state also reported 161 Covid related deaths. The total deaths due to Covid reached 33,763. Of these, Bengaluru reported 1,263 new cases and four deaths during the last 24 hours.