Karnataka likely to further ease lockdown curbs after June 21

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday said that the state is likely to relax the COVID-19 induced lockdown restrictions further after June 21. Yediyurappa told the media that the present lockdown curbs in Karnataka will come to an end on June 21 and after analysing the situation the state government will take a decision on easing the curbs. "We will have to relax the present restrictions, but the question is how much to be done as the situation is improving," he said.

The Chief Minister added that he will take a decision in this regard only after consulting the Karnataka's COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee, his senior ministers and other officials concerned by the end of this week.

Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases, Karnataka has continued to enforce strict lockdown measures in 11 districts - Chikmagalur, Shivamogga, Davangere, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Bengaluru Rural, Mandya, Belagavi and Kodagu. However, in the remaining 19 districts, Karnataka has announced certain relaxations which include opening of parks and industrial units with riders, extending the duration of shops selling essential goods till 2 pm, permission for autos and taxis to ply with maximum two passengers.

Currently, relaxation in lockdown measures are in place from June 14 to 21.

When the state came under the grip of second COVID-19 wave, Karnataka had initially announced 14 days 'Corona curfew' from April 27, but subsequently it had to enforce a complete lockdown from May 10 to 24, as the state saw exponential jump in COVID-19 positive cases.

Bengaluru, for the first time since the second wave of COVID-19 hit, recorded less than 1,000 cases in a day. Bengaluru recorded 985 new COVID-19 cases on Monday according to a bulletin released by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The total number of active cases stands at 83,195 according to the bulletin.

(With inpts from IANS)