E-Paper
K’taka imposes stricter curbs for 14 days amid Covid surge
Bengaluru The Karnataka government on Monday announced stricter restrictions across the state from Tuesday night for 14 days, in a last-ditch attempt to contain the rapidly deteriorating health crisis amid unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases in the second wave of the pandemic
Bengaluru
The Karnataka government on Monday announced stricter restrictions across the state from Tuesday night for 14 days, in a last-ditch attempt to contain the rapidly deteriorating health crisis amid unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases in the second wave of the pandemic.
“Strict measures to control Covid pandemic will be taken. From tomorrow (Tuesday) night till next 14 days, there will be closed down for the whole state,” chief minister BS Yediyurappa said in Bengaluru after an over two-hour cabinet meeting on Monday.
He added that essential commodity shops will be open between 6 am and 10 am, after which all shops will be closed.
The state cabinet also decided to provide Covid-19 vaccinations free of cost at government hospitals for those between 18 and 44 years of age in the new vaccination drive starting May 1.
The government said that the restrictions, termed as “closed down”, were enforced to “break the chain of Covid-19 transmission in the state” and will be in place from 9 pm on April 27 to 6 am on May 12.
Yediyurappa added that if the situation did not come under control within this period, there would be chances of extending the same.
“Regarding control of Covid pandemic, the cabinet has taken decisions after consulting with an expert committee,” Yediyurappa said.
Earlier, the Karnataka government has been accused of neglecting warnings given by the state-appointed technical advisory committee (TAC) in its report in November last year about the imminent second wave of infections and level or preparedness required to deal with the surge.
The decision came on a day when Karnataka reported 29,744 new Covid-19 cases and 201 fatalities, taking the caseload and deaths in the state to 1,368,945 and 14,627, respectively. The case positivity rate in the state was 17.87%, according to the daily bulletin of the state health department. The state had recorded its highest-ever tally of 34,804 cases in a day on Sunday.
Bengaluru accounted for 16,545 fresh infections and 105 deaths on Monday, taking the total number of Covid-19 cases and related deaths in the city to 670,201 and 5,905, respectively.
While the state government refrained from using the term ‘lockdown’, restrictions announced on Monday were nothing short of it, business owners and government officials said.
Several other states like Delhi, Punjab and Maharashtra have relapsed into lockdown mode as a measure to contain the surge.
The government said all shops and establishments serving food, groceries and other essentials can remain open from 6 am to 10 am till the period of the curfew. Yediyurappa said that stand-alone liquor shops will be allowed to remain open for take away services only. However, officials at the Excise department said they would have to now make fresh orders as existing provisions under the stringent act allows opening of liquor stores only from 10 am.
“We are not sure how to remain open at 6 am and then close down at 10am. Unless we have orders from the excise department, it will be hard for us to operate since any violation can end up with us losing our licence,” said a liquor shop owner in upscale Indiranagar locality, requesting not to be named.
The government has also allowed industries, except garments, to continue operations. Construction workers will be issued passes, the government said in its guidelines.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka Employers Association on Monday appealed to the government that it should be allowed to operate its units with 50% strength.
“The garment industry has already received lot of orders with strict timelines to deliver. European markets have just opened and they have sent huge orders. If there is a delay in supply of finished goods to the buyers, it will result in huge penalty, losses and also it will result in employment loss,” BC Prabhakar, the president of the association, wrote in the letter.
Earlier in the day, Yediyurappa said garment factories will not be allowed to function since the sector employs lakhs of people who have to sit side-by-side and work.
Meanwhile, the announcement triggered confusion and anxiety among residents of the city and other parts of the state, who resorted to panic buying, not knowing what turns the current restrictions would take.
