Restrictions are being imposed on various activities in Karnataka as COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru city and state see a sharp uptick. Weekend curfews will be put in place yet again across the state, and will apply from 10 pm on Friday night to 5 am on Monday. The night curfew will also continue across the state. All rules will be in effect for the next two weeks, and will come into effect from 10 am on Wednesday, January 5 till 5 am on January 19.
In Bengaluru, physical classes will be closed for all except for students in classes 10, 11 and 12 as these students can get the vaccine. For colleges across in the city, only medical, paramedical and nursing colleges can be open, and all others will be closed for physical classes. Schools in other districts will continue to function as of now.
Offices across the state will be allowed to function from Monday to Friday. These measures apply from January 6. All malls, pubs, theatres and bars in the state can operate only at 50% capacity from Monday to Friday. It is mandatory for all those visiting these establishments to have taken both doses of the vaccine. There will be no gatherings including protests, strikes and religious events, officials said. Religious places can be open, but only 50 people will be allowed at one time.
Swimming pools and gyms can operate at 50% capacity but entry will be restricted to fully vaccinated persons.
For the weekend curfew, the guidelines said that across Karnataka all industries including IT are exempt from curfew restrictions and employees are allowed to move around on producing a valid ID card. Restaurant and eateries will be allowed only for take away and home delivery on the weekend. All public places will be closed on weekends.
Revenue Minister R Ashoka, making the announcements, said that there were 3,048 COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru at the time of the announcement, with 147 Omicron cases in the city. He added that the city/state will see over 10,000 cases in six days as cases are doubling every 2-3 days.
Restrictions have also been imposed on the number of people attending gatherings — with a cap of 200 people if it is an outdoor wedding and 100 if indoor.
The government had already imposed containment measures like night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am, from December 28 till January 7 morning, to control the spread.
All those coming from Goa, Kerala and Maharashtra will mandatorily need an RT-PCR test.
The ministers said that many who returned from Goa after the new year have tested positive. “We are looking to trace everyone who returned from Goa post January 1 and we want to test them,” he said.
The ministers said that cases were currently being seen in those between 20 and 50 years of age.
For international passengers, an RT-PCR test is mandatory for those from high-risk countries. If found to be positive, triaging will be done and they will either be sent to COVID care centres or hotel isolation.
Karnataka has been witnessing a surge in COVID cases over the last five days. State Health Minister K Sudhakar had earlier said it was necessary to take special steps in Bengaluru to combat the spread of the virus as the city is an epicentre.
These measures come on the day that there was a big spike in COVID-19 cases in the capital city, as well as an increase in the test positivity rate in the state. This was the fourth consecutive day that cases had spiked, and on Tuesday, January 4, Karnataka reported 2,479 infections and four deaths. Active cases stood at 13,532. While this was data given as per the health department’s bulletin on January 4 (which has data for January 3), R Ashoka said that cases as of 10 pm on January 4 in Bengaluru was 3,048.
The test positivity rate has also spiked in the state.