BENGALURU/KOCHI/CHANDIGARH: With Covid-19 cases spiralling out of control, the Karnataka government on Monday announced a 14-day curfew across the state, while Kerala decided to enforce restrictions far more strictly starting Tuesday.
Briefing reporters, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said all commercial activities will remain prohibited, but manufacturing units (except garments factories), agricultural production, medical supplies production and construction activities will be allowed.
“No public transport will be allowed, but movement of cargo and goods vehicles will not be hindered. Shops selling groceries, milk, meat and other essentials will be allowed to open between 6 am and 10 am every day. Night curfew, which is already in place between 9 am and 6 am, will continue. If cases do not come under control, then we may have to extend these restrictions for another week,” Yediyurappa said.
In Kerala, an all-party meeting on Monday decided against total lockdown, but gave the nod to enforce restrictions far more strictly. As part of the move, malls, bars, liquor outlets, cinema halls, clubs, sports complexes, swimming pools, gymnasiums and entertainment parks will be closed from Tuesday until further orders. All social, political, cultural and religious functions/gatherings are also prohibited until further orders. The number of attendees at weddings (two-hour duration) and funerals has been limited to 50 and 20, respectively. Weddings should be registered on the Covid19 Jagratha Portal, the government said.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government also announced stricter restrictions by advancing weekday curfew by two hours. In a tweet, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh said that the state was enforcing lockdown from 6 pm to 5 am on weekdays and a weekend lockdown that would begin at 6 pm on Friday until 5 am on Monday.