CM Yediyurappa announced a statewide lockdown starting from 27th April, for 14 days. Essentials will remain open 6 to 10 am. The decision of complete lockdown was taken as per the suggestion of the Karnataka Technical Advisory Committee.
Key Points
- Covid curfew to be implemented in the state from tomorrow (April 27th) 9 PM for the next 14 days.
- Only essential services will be allowed.
- Essential services allowed between 6 AM -10 AM. After 10 AM shops will remain closed. Whereas, construction, manufacturing & agriculture sectors will be functional.
- Inter/intra-state travel will not be allowed. Only emergency cases will be exempted
- Vaccination to be free for all those getting vaccinated between 18 to 45 years.
- Cabinet has written to the state election commission to postpone all upcoming polls for at least three months.
Many experts are of opinion that 14 days lockdown in Karnataka will reduce the number of infections and will also break the chain of the virus.
Minister Jagadish Shettar said, “We are not in favor of lockdown, but the situation is such that we have to impose restrictions to bring things under control…we have to break the chain, it is a matter of a few days, let’s see… once the numbers (cases) come down, restrictions will also reduce.”
Karnataka has reported another biggest single day spike of 34,804 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total caseload to 13.39 lakh, while 143 related fatalities pushed the toll to 14,426, the Health department said on Sunday. Bengaluru Urban alone accounted for 20,733 cases. The day also saw 6,982 patients getting discharged after recovery.
Cumulatively 13,39,201 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 14,426 deaths and 10,62,594 discharges, the Health department said in a bulletin. Out of 2,62,162 active cases, 2,60,670 patients are stable and in isolation at designated hospitals, while 1,492 are in Intensive Care Units. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 19.70 per cent, the case fatality rate (CFR) was 0.41 per cent.