The Karnataka government has increased the number of restrictions placed as part of the lockdown announced in the state. The lockdown will be in effect till March 31 in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19 cases and it has been extended from nine districts to the entire state.
The state government issued a fresh notification on Monday barring the use of private vehicles except for procuring essential commodities and other exceptions laid out by the government.
"Uber, taxis, auto-rickshaws and other hired services shall not be permitted for passenger transport except for procuring essential commodities and medical emergencies," the notification issued by the government stated. In Bengaluru, Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said that cab services like Ola and Uber will not be available.
Gatherings of more than five persons will be prohibited in public spaces “except for the purpose of containing COVID-19 and statutory and regulatory functions,” the notification stated.
The nine districts where the lockdown was in effect from Sunday are Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Dharwad, Chikkaballapura, Kodagu and Belagavi. This has now been extended to the entire state.
Public transport run by state government corporations will be unavailable across the state.
Rail services including metro rail services are already suspended till March 31 as part of a nationwide lockdown plan in the country.
All industries and factories except those dealing with essential services like food, medical equipment, drugs, fuel and agricultural inputs, shall remain closed. The industries have been advised to not remove any worker and advised to sanction paid leave to them.
On Sunday, the state government issued a notification stating that all commercial establishments except for essential services will remain closed in nine districts.
All government staff over the age of 50 years and having underlying conditions of diabetes and other conditions have been asked to remain in home quarantine.
Essential services include ration shops, milk, vegetables, groceries, meat, fish, fruit, wholesale and retail markets, petrol stations, banks, ATMs, take away and home delivery from restaurants, and medical services. Government offices dealing with essential services as notified by the state government will be open.
All Information Technology and Bio-Technology units will work from home, except in cases where it is not feasible.
Till date, the number of cases in the state stand at 33 with a second case from Mysuru detected on Monday.
Further, police in Bengaluru along with health department officials have started a drive to stamp the returnees from foreign countries with indelible ink in wake of reports of those in quaratning violating protocol.
The state government has also further warned that stringent action under IPC (indian Penal Code) Section 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) will be taken against those violating quarantine protocol, which states a punishment up to six months and fine.