Karnataka Cabinet announces partial shutdown to continue till March 31

An emergency meeting was convened by the Karnataka Chief Minister on the Coronavirus outbreak and a slew of measures were announced to battle the pandemic. The Karnataka cabinet decided to put all international passengers on mandatory quarantine for 15 days. They are to be accommodated in private hotels near the airport, resorts, government bungalows and government colleges in and around Devanahalli. 

Read: Two More COVID-19 Cases In Karnataka, Number Goes Up To 13

The partial shutdown that was announced a few days ago is to be continued till March 31st, the cabinet decided. While continuing to ban all mass gatherings, the government reiterated that not more than 150 guests were allowed in wedding ceremonies. No political meetings/rallies or gatherings allowed and entry of the general public to the state secretariat, Vidhana Souda, has been banned.

Read: Karnataka Congress President DK Shivkumar Joins Digvijaya Singh Amid Bengaluru Drama

Mandatory stamping for all passengers from abroad

The state has also announced mandatory stamping to be done for those who return from abroad. Rs 200 crores funds have been allocated to implement measures taken for prevention of spread of Coronavirus. Malls, theatres, sports grounds and pubs to continue to remain shut while schools and colleges to remain closed. 

Task forces have been set up both at state level and district level to monitor the implementation of the measures being announced. The state-level task force comprises Health minister Sreeramulu, Medical education minister K Sudhakar, Home minister Basavaraj Bommai and Chief Secretary Vijay Bhaskar.

So far Karnataka has screened 82276 people who have returned from abroad. The government also to start screening at Karwar and Mangalore ports too. 

Read: Karnataka Doctor Who Treated 76-year-old Deceased COVID-19 Patient Tests Positive

KSCA shuts sport centres

A statement from Vinay Mruthyunjaya, the Official spokesperson of The Karnataka State Cricket Association read ‘KSCA had already closed down all sections of the sports center and also given off to all the sports centre staff wef. 14th March 2020. Further to that Now It is decided that most of the KSCA administrative staff will be working from home until further orders. All the KSCA employees have been advised strictly to be at home and should not travel and be available on phones and emails. However skeletal staff will be deputed at KSCA to make sure ongoing works like grounds maintenance, regular maintenance, etc., is not affected’. 

On Wednesday, two more cases of Coronavirus were confirmed from Bengaluru, taking the tally to 13 in the state. A 56-year-old male, who is a resident of Bengaluru and returned from the USA on 6th March has tested positive along with a 25-year-old female, who returned from Spain.

Opposition party legislator UT Khader suggested to the government to shut down all airports in the state, both domestic and international to battle the spread of COVID-19. Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah said that not just those who have symptoms but all passengers should be screened at airports. He also questioned why private hospitals were not being allowed to conduct tests.

Read: Karnataka Confirms 2 More Coronavirus Cases, Total Rises To 10 In State