Karnataka CM to visit border districts with more COVID-19 cases; to impose weekend curfew

On Monday, the Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai announced that he has planned to visit all of the state's border districts to assess the situation amid increasing COVID cases every day. He said that today he is going to travel to Mysuru district, where he will meet with authorities to address the COVID problems. He said he has also chosen to visit all of the border districts, where there are more COVID instances.  

Bommai told reporters that on his way to Mysuru, he will also visit Chamundeshwari temple and Suttur Mutt, a famous Lingayat seminary in the region.      

As COVID-19 cases are increasing day by day, the Karnataka government has imposed a weekend curfew in all districts that border with the two states of Kerala and Maharashtra. The weekend curfews are enforceable in the districts - Belagavi, Bidar, Vijayapura, and Kalaburagi which share borders with Maharashtra. Similarly, districts that border with Kerala, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Mysuru, and Chamarajanagara will also follow a weekend curfew. 

Earlier, on Friday, the Chief Minister, after reviewing the COVID situation, announced various containment measures, including advancing the night curfew across the state by an hour, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., rather than 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. He has also dispatched Ministers to each of the state's districts, instructing them to visit and personally evaluate the situation. 

Previous COVID-19 restrictions

Earlier, even the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik issued a warning to residents about a probable third wave of Covid-19 infections in the state. He said that if they continue to act irresponsibly and break Covid rules in public locations, the state government will be compelled to implement a total lockdown. He went on to say that, a lockdown may impact many people's livelihoods, work-life but the government will be left with no choice if the situation escalates. 

Previously, the Centre requested states to explore limitations such as restricting or prohibiting user mobility and crowding in places such as shops, malls as well as worship places, since the states are experiencing an increase in COVID-19 instances, which is causing worry.  

Maharashtra, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, Assam, Manipur, and Meghalaya are the ten states affected badly. On the other hand, the Centre has also stated that there were additional 53 districts in which the COVID positivity rate was between 5% and 10%, and the number of tests should be conducted by the states to discover more cases.  

In the last 24 hours, there are 1785 new cases in Karnataka which is making the total number 29.2 lakhs cases with more than 36 thousand fatalities.  

(Image Credit: Facebook)

(with inputs from PTI)