Unlock 2.0 back in Bengaluru, but night curfew, Sunday lockdowns to continue

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Tuesday (July 21) issued an order reimplementing unlock 2.0 guidelines issued on June 30, under which there will be night curfew and Sunday lockdown. The unlock 2.0 guidelines will be effective from 5 am on July 22 to July 31.

The order, signed by Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar, said night curfew would be from 9 pm-5 am state-wide and that the lockdown on Sundays currently in place would continue. The order also restricts the use of gym equipment and sitting on benches in parks.

The order further said that vegetable markets, not only in Bengaluru, but also in district and taluk level, would be relocated to large open spaces or Agricultural Produce Market Committees, with the aim of restricting crowds.

Bengaluru urban and rural areas were under "complete lockdown" since 8 pm on July 14 and it will be effective till 5 am on Wednesday. The lockdown was implemented amid a spike in COVID cases in the city.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said that Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka will not have any more COVID-19 lockdowns and that the government is going to take strict measures in the COVID-19 containment zones.

"There won't be any future lockdown in Bengaluru or any other part of Karnataka, we will take strict measures in all the coronavirus containment zones," said CM, while addressing a press conference.

Talking about the 9-day lockdown in Bengaluru that is going to end on Wednesday, Yediyurappa said, "We had succeeded earlier in keeping COVID-19 under check but now the cases are rising. Lockdown is not the solution and everyone should always wear masks and should mandatorily follow physical distancing."

He said the state is going to follow 5Ts - trace, track, test, treat, and technology to check the rising number of coronavirus cases.

CM stated that more than 80 % of COVID patients are asymptomatic and there is no need for hospitalisation of asymptomatic patients as they can undergo home isolation or there are COVID Care Centres for such patients.

On the reports of people killing themselves over COVID-19 fear, Yediyurapp requested everyone to not take such extreme steps 'as many people are recovering from the virus'.

Notably, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) today announced they will operate the buses but in limited numbers with caution and restrictions.

The KSRTC runs inter-district and inter-state buses, whereas the BMTC operates its buses in Bengaluru municipal area, Bengaluru urban district and Bengaluru rural district.

After the lockdown was imposed from July 14 to July 22 morning to check the spread of the coronavirus, the two transport corporations had stopped their operations in Bengaluru.