On May 7, the Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa announced a complete lockdown across the State. The aim is clearly to curb the surge and spread of Covid-19.

The lockdown will be valid from 6 a.m. on May 10 till May 24, 6 a.m.

Elaborating on why the Government decided to go in for lockdown, the Chief Minister said, “The second wave of Covid-19 is creating havoc across the State and the corona curfew imposed earlier has not given expected results in reducing the infection and death rate, therefore, we have decided to impose stringent measures.”

It may be recalled that the Government on May 4 had imposed a closed down in the State till May 12, though the figures relating to cases and death had not come down.

Also read: Karnataka opts for 14 days lockdown to battle against second wave of Covid-19

The Chief Secretary of the State, P. Ravi Kumar in an order issued by the Government stated: “The situation of Covid-19 in the State was reviewed and it was observed that daily new Covid-19 positive cases have continued unabated with a high positivity rate. The State is satisfied that further stringent containment measures are needed to be implemented to combat the surge of cases.”

Thus under section 24 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, revised guidelines with the aim of breaking the transmission chain of the Coronavirus pandemic were issued, said Kumar.

What is not permissible?

• Metro Rail, taxi and bus services (except while hired for emergency).
• Schools and colleges (Online/ distance learning is permitted).
• Cinemas, shopping malls, stadiums and swimming pools.
• Social, political, sports, entertainment, cultural, religious functions and other gatherings and congregations.
• Places of worship will remain closed for the public.
• No movement of public or private buses or passenger vehicles will be allowed.
• Hotels, restaurants, liquor shops and hospitality services can only act as takeaway and home delivery.
• Inter-State and intra-State movement of passenger vehicles allowed in cases of emergencies or as permitted.

What is permitted?

• Flights and trains: Tickets will act as a pass for movement of person.
• Karnataka Government offices; departments dealing with health; municipal administration; district administration; medical education; police, civil defence, defence, fire and emergency services; water, electricity and sanitation; Government of India offices such as defence, defence PSUs, armed police forces; petroleum, CNG, LPG, PNG, power generation and disaster management; banks, RBI regulated financial markets; and microfinance institutions.
• Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme; homes for children, disabled, mentally challenged, senior citizens, destitutes and women.
• Agriculture activities, supply chain of essential goods; movement of all types of goods and cargo; manufacturing wholesale, retail, large brick and mortar stores or e-commerce companies.
• Groceries shops; fruits, vegetables, dairy shops and milk booths; and meat and fish and animal fodder. All of them operate from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
• All food processing and related industries; construction activities and repair work; print and electronic media;  construction activities with in-situ labourers/workers; road works.
• Marriages will be permitted with only 50 persons in attendance while cremations or funerals can be attended only with five persons.

The reason for opting for complete lockdown by Karnataka is due to the fact that the Coronavirus cases were on the rise and there was an urgent need to break the chain. On May 7, Karnataka had 5,17,095 active cases while the total was 17,90,104 cases.