New Karnataka curbs till Jan 19: Night curfew extended; cinema halls, religious places, swimming pools and gyms to operate with 50% capacity
Weekend curfew from Friday 10 pm to Monday 5 am across Karnataka
Bengaluru classes 1 to 9 and degree colleges shut, classes 10 to 12 exempted
As with Maharashtra and Kerala arrivals, Goa arrivals to Karnataka must produce Covid-19 negative report
BENGALURU:
With Karnataka witnessing an alarming single-day spike of 3,047 Covid-19 and 147 Omicron variant cases on Tuesday – a sure sign that the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic has set in – the state government lost no time and issued fresh guidelines on Tuesday night.
The new containment measures will come into force from 10 pm on Wednesday, January 5, and will continue to operate till 5 am on January 19.
As a further precautionary measure, the state government has announced a holiday for Classes 1 to 9 and degree colleges in Bengaluru while it has allowed Classes 10, 11 and 12 to continue.
Kids’ vaccination on: Tushar Giri Nath
“Classes 10, 11 and 12 are allowed to give the Covid vaccine to children in the age group of 15-18 years and also to prepare them for the Board exams,” Tushar Giri Nath, Revenue Principal Secretary, Disaster Management, told TheBengaluruLive.
Ashoka, Sudhakar briefing
Additionally, the state government has extended the existing night curfew and has imposed a weekend curfew from 10 pm on Friday to 5 am on Monday. Karnataka’s Revenue Minister R Ashoka and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar briefed the media on the new containment measures following a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai with experts for more than two and a half hours.
Chief Secy Ravi Kumar’s order
“The Covid-19 situation in the state has been further reviewed on 04-01-2022 and it is found that Karnataka is witnessing an alarming rate of increase in the number of patients, which is attributed mainly due to the Omicron variant. The number of patients are getting doubled in less than 3 days and stood at 2,053 cases as on 04-01-2022,” said P Ravi Kumar, Chief Secretary and Chairman, State Executive Committee, Disaster Management, in his order on Tuesday. He added, “The Technical Advisory Committee has suggested imposing additional containment measures to contain the spread of the infection due to Covid-19 and to continue with focused implementation of the five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccination-adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour.”
The additional containment measures are:
- Night curfew will continue to be imposed from 10 pm to 5 am in the entire state, as per the existing guidelines.
- All offices will function 5 days a week from Monday to Friday during this period.
- The government secretariat will run with officials below the rank of Under Secretary at 50% of the working strength.
- There shall be a weekend curfew from Friday 10 pm to Monday 5 am in the state.
- Public transport, including BMRCL, will operate as per the directions of the Chief Executive of the organization to cater to the needs of people for emergent purposes during the weekend curfew.
- In Bengaluru Urban district, all schools and colleges except medical and para medical will remain closed with effect from 06-01-2022, except for Classes 10, 11 and 12.
- Pubs/clubs/restaurants/bars/hotels/eating places in hotels etc will function with 50% of the seating capacity, strictly adhering to Covid-appropriate behaviour, and entry to such places will be restricted to fully vaccinated persons.
- Cinema halls/multiplexes/theatres/ranga mandiras/auditoriums and similar places to operate with 50% of the seating capacity, strictly adhering to Covid-appropriate behaviour, and entry to such places will be restricted to fully vaccinated persons.
- Marriage functions are permitted to be conducted involving not more than 200 people in open spaces and 100 people in closed places, strictly adhering to Covid-appropriate behaviour and prevailing guidelines issued by the state government.
- Religious places are allowed to open only for darshan. No seva, etc, is allowed. Entry of people will be restricted to 50 persons at any given time, who are fully vaccinated.
- Malls, shopping complexes, all stand-alone shops and establishments shall operate as usual during weekdays.
- Swimming pools and gyms shall operate at 50% capacity but entry will be restricted to fully vaccinated persons.
- Sports complexes and stadiums are allowed to function with 50% capacity.
- All rallies, dharnas, protests are prohibited.
- There shall be intensive surveillance at the border with Kerala and Maharashtra as per the prevailing circular/guidelines issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka. The same guidelines are extended to the state of Goa. Checks (will be conducted) on all modes of transport, that is, air, train and road.
The Chief Secretary’s order has stressed that “Any person violating these measures will be liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of Sections 5l to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under Section l88 of the IPC and other legal provisions as applicable.”
Guidelines for the weekend curfew:
Movement of individuals shall remain strictly prohibited between Friday 8 pm and Monday 5 am, except for essential and emergency activities as mentioned below:
- All state and Central government offices and their Autonomous Bodies, Corporations, etc, dealing with emergency, essential services and Covid-19 containment and management duties shall be fully functional and officers/personnel of the same shall be allowed unrestricted movement.
- All public parks are closed.
- All industries, including IT industries, are exempted from the restriction of curfew and their employees are allowed to and fro movement on producing a valid ID card issued by their respective organization/institution.
- Patients and their attendants/persons requiring emergency need/ eligible people intending to take vaccination shall be allowed movement with minimal proof.
- Shops dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, meat and fish, dairy and milk booths, and animal fodder shall be allowed to function. Street vendors are allowed to function. Public Distribution System shops are allowed to function. Home delivery of all items shall be encouraged 24×7 to minimize movement of individuals outside their homes. (Their) operation shall be subject to adhering to the national directives for Covid-19 management.
- Restaurant and eateries shall be allowed only for take-away and home delivery.
- Movement of trains and air travel is permitted. Movement of public transport, private vehicles and taxis to and from airports, railway stations and bus terminals/stops/stands is allowed for facilitating movement of passengers by air, rail and road. The movement will be
allowed only on displaying valid travel documents/tickets and strictly adhering to Covid- appropriate behaviour. - Marriage functions are permitted to be conducted involving not more than 200 people in open spaces and 100 people in closed places, strictly adhering to Covid-appropriate behaviour and prevailing guidelines issued by the state government.
ಇದನ್ನೂ ಓದಿ: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಶಾಲೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮುಚ್ಚಲು ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ನಿರ್ಧಾರ; ವಾರಾಂತ್ಯದ ಕರ್ಫ್ಯೂ ಮುಂದುವರಿಕೆ
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