Weekend curfew in 8 districts of K’taka, here’s what allowed and what’s not

On Friday, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced the weekend curfew and night curfew in the state. He said that amid the rise of coronavirus infection in the neighboring states – Maharashtra and Kerala, the Karnataka government has decided to impose a weekend curfew (from 9 pm on Friday to 5 am on Monday) on the bordering districts of the state from August 7 to August 16.

As a precautionary measure, the timing of the night curfew has also increased by an hour. All the above decisions are taken by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai after the meeting with health experts, education experts as well as officials from Bengaluru. 

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The states which would be under weekend curfew are:  

According to the order issued by Tushar Girinath, Member Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority, are Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Mysuru, and Chamarajanagar (bordering Kerala) and Belagavi, Bidar, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi (bordering Maharashtra). 

Karnataka CM said that the weekend curfew is imposed especially in the border districts to slow down the spread of infection from the neighboring states, where the infection spread is more intense. 

Here is what is allowed and what’s not: 

• To enter the state, a negative RT-PCR report and two doses of the covid-19 vaccine is mandatory. 
• Family functions and marriages are permitted in the state but the capacity has been capped at 100 and only 20 persons can gather during the cremations or funerals. 
• Social, political, sports, entertainment, academic and cultural events would remain prohibited.
• Business, as well as Public Distribution System shops, would function from 5 am to 2 pm but the home delivery would be allowed round the clock and the delivery person is allowed to move from one place to another. 

• The movement of an individual is prohibited and only essential movement is allowed. 
• Restaurants and eateries would only allow takeaway or home delivery. 
• Pubs and bars would not operate only take away from standalone liquor shops are permitted (from 5 am to 2 pm). 
• The employees must work from home, as per the order. “However, to the extent possible, employees should be encouraged to work from home,” the order read.
• The movement of public transport is allowed and movement of trains and airplanes is also permitted. As per the order, “The movement will be allowed only on displaying valid travel documents or tickets and strictly adhering to Covid appropriate behavior.”