Karnataka, which is opening after lockdown in phases on a two-week basis, may see the night curfew lifted from July 19 and pubs reopening. The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), which advises the state government on the COVID-19 situation, has recommended further relaxations in places that have a low positivity rate. The Times of India reported that Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is in favour of more relaxations in the districts that have a low positivity rate. The CM is expected to chair a meeting with ministers on Friday, July 16 or on Saturday, July 17 to discuss the TAC’s recommendations.
On July 3, the Karnataka government had further relaxed the restrictions for the next two weeks, announcing that the weekend curfew will be lifted and the night curfew will continue from 9 pm to 5 am instead of the earlier 6 pm to 5 am. The state government allowed malls to reopen and religious places to open to the public for ‘darshan’ only.
Sports complexes and stadia can be opened only for training purposes, while social, political, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions, and other gatherings and large congregations have been prohibited. The government also decided to increase the number of guests at weddings and family functions to not more than 100 from the present limit of 40 people, and allow up to 20 people to gather for cremations.
On Monday, July 12, Karnataka saw 1,386 fresh infections and 61 deaths, taking the caseload and toll to 28,72,684 and 35,896 respectively, the Health Department said. The fresh infections came down by about 600 compared to Sunday. The active cases in the state stood at 34,858. As many as 3,204 patients recovered, taking the total recoveries to 28,01,907. The positivity rate for the day was 1.26% and the case fatality rate was 4.4%, the Department said. Bengaluru Urban district reported 319 infections, the highest among all the districts of the state, and nine deaths. The city has so far reported 12,19,697 infections and 15,745 deaths. There are 12,985 active cases.
Mysuru remained the second major COVID-19 hotspot with 177 infections and 10 deaths. According to the bulletin, deaths were recorded in 22 districts, including 10 in Dakshina Kannada and four in Mandya. There were zero deaths in Bidar, Chamarajanagar, Chitradurga, Davangere, Kalaburagi, Uttara Kannada, and Yadgir.
The state conducted 1,09,399 COVID-19 tests, including 90,903 RT-PCR tests and other methods. So far 3.60 crore tests were done cumulatively, the Department added. There were 2,03562 inoculations done on Monday, taking the total vaccinations to 2.58 crore.
With PTI inputs