In a change to the lockdown guidelines in Karnataka, the state government on Wednesday announced that delivery of all items through e-commerce and home delivery will be allowed. This was among three changes to the existing lockdown restrictions in Karnataka, which will be in place until June 7. Earlier this month, the Karnataka government issued orders stating that only essential commodities can be delivered through e-commerce and home delivery portals.
The addendum to the rules was issued by Manjunath Prasad, Principal Secretary of the Revenue Department.
The other changes made to the restrictions allow for the movement of advocates, and for law firms to remain open with 50% staff. "Movement of advocates, their paralegal personnel/ clerks, and other support staff to their respective offices is permitted only during court working days on producing ID card/authorisation. Offices of advocates/law firms are permitted to function with 50% of staff strength strictly adhering to COVID appropriate behaviour," the order stated.
The Karnataka government had earlier announced a weekend lockdown on April 27, which was then made into a complete lockdown on May 7. The lockdown was further extended on May 21, to last until 6 am on June 7. The restrictions include limiting the movement of people between 6-10 am for essentials and restaurants and hotels allowed to open only for take-away. The lockdown was enforced due to the rising COVID-19 cases in Karnataka, particularly the capital city of Bengaluru. The cases have reduced in the past week, with Karnataka reporting under 30,000 COVID-19 cases and Bengaluru reporting under 10,000 COVID-19 cases daily in the last few days. But a cause for concern is that the test positivity rate is still above 20% daily in the state.