The Karnataka government on Monday announced that it has restricted the entry of visitors from 3 states including Gujarat and Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra till May 31. The Karnataka Chief Secretary on Monday night confirmed to TNM that the entry is disallowed from three states. On Monday morning however, Chief Minister Yediyurappa had mentioned Kerala as well in the list. Those who have already procured travel passes via the Seva Sindhu app will be allowed into the state.
Whatever permission has been given so far via the Seva Sindhu app, only those people will be permitted to enter the state. There will be a complete restriction on the rest of the people till May 31. Only after May 31 other people will be allowed to enter, particularly from these four states," Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan told the media on Monday.
The Chief Secretary that a government order will not be pased in this regard, but entry will be disallowed.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa made the announcement on Monday morning, along with announcements on the relaxations that the state government was allowing with regards to lockdown 4.0.
The announcement came with a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the state and mostly among those with domestic travel history as compared to those transmitted through contacts or international travellers.
Incidentally, among the 84 new cases of COVID-19 that were confirmed by the state health department on Monday morning, 56 had recently returned from Mumbai. On Sunday too, 40 among those who tested positive on Sunday were also with recent travel history to Mumbai. The trend of high COVID-19 patients with travel histories to Mumbai was seen from Friday itself.
A majority of cases from Kolar district which until recently had zero cases have patients with travel histories to Tamil Nadu.
Around 60 cases in the state can also be traced back to patients with travel history to Gujarat.
The state government has also ordered that no interstate trains except Shramik trains and special trains to and from Delhi as announced by the Railways will not be operated until May 31.
However inter-district trains will be allowed to ply.
Among other important announcements, the Chief Minister said that people will be fined by police for not wearing masks in all public places and on all public transport modes.
To discourage travellers from coming into the state, the CM has ordered that the existing standard operation procedure for all interstate passengers to undergo institutional quarantine will remain in place under further orders.