The movement of essential goods and services are allowed and shops selling groceries can stay open from 6 am to 6 pm, the government said
Karnataka has announced a two-week lockdown amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. In an order issued on Friday, the BS Yediyurappa government said the lockdown will be from 6 am on May 10 to 6 am on May 24.
The movement of essential goods and services are allowed, and shops selling groceries can remain open from 6 am to 6 pm, the government said.
Other services and tasks allowed to continue during the lockdown are road repair work and cargo vehicles.
Shops and other commercial units like hotels, pubs, bars and industries that are not directly related to providing essential services will have to pull down their shutters.
Karnataka figures in a list of states that the centre has identified as places where Covid cases have been rising in recent days. The state capital Bengaluru has been adding the biggest number of fresh cases every day to the state’s total caseload.
Flights and trains already scheduled will operate during the lockdown, the Karnataka government said in the order. Metro rail won’t run; cabs not hired for emergency aren’t allowed on the roads. Schools and colleges will remain shut, though online learning can continue.
The state reported 48,781 fresh cases in the last 24 hours. This is a relatively big number in the deadly second wave of the pandemic in a state that did not see a spike in cases last year. Some 592 deaths were reported in the highest single-day fatalities in Karnataka.
The positivity rate or the chances of getting infected in Bengaluru is 40 per cent. The city reported 21,376 cases and 346 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The demand for medical oxygen has been rising fast in Bengaluru, as in other cities in the state. The Supreme Court on Friday said it will not leave the people of Karnataka in the lurch as it declined to interfere with the Karnataka High Court’s order to centre to increase the daily oxygen allocation for the state from 965 tonnes to 1,200 tonnes.