Karnataka to reimpose night curfew for 10 days due to rising Omicron cases

The decision was taken during a high-level meeting of senior Ministers, officials and the COVID technical advisory committee, chaired by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

New Delhi: Karnataka on Sunday (December 26, 2021) joined several other states in announcing the reimposition of night curfew due to rising cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

Health Minister K Sudhakar informed that the night curfew will come into place from December 28 for 10 days between 10 pm to 5 am.

"From December 28 onwards, for about ten days to begin with, we would like to watch by calling a night curfew, invoking Section 144, from night 10 PM to the next morning 5 AM," Sudhakar said after attending a high-level meeting of senior Ministers, officials and the COVID technical advisory committee, chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. 

He added that there is also a curb on functions and gatherings for the New Year.

"There will be no functions, parties in the external premises, especially for those celebrating with DJs and large gatherings, they have been completely banned in Karnataka," Sudhakar informed.

The Minister said that places like eateries, hotels, pubs and restaurants can have 50 per cent of the seating capacity of the premises. 

Earlier on Saturday, seven new Omicron cases were confirmed in Karnataka and took the total number of infections of the new coronavirus variant in the state to 38.

In a set of tweets, Sudhakar said that those who tested positive were: a 76-year-old man from Bengaluru, who had travelled from Delhi, a 30-year-old woman from Bengaluru, who came from UAE, a 63-year-old man from Bengaluru who arrived from Zambia and a 54-year-old man from Bengaluru, who was a primary contact of a United Kingdom traveller.

He had added that a 21-year-old man from Bengaluru who arrived from the UK, a 62-year-old man from Bengaluru, who came from Delhi, and a 15-year-old boy from Bengaluru who travelled from the USA have also been found infected.

Sudhakar said all primary and secondary contacts have been tracked, traced and tested.

The Health Department said except for the 15-year-old, all are vaccinated. Among the infected people, four have symptoms of the new variant of coronavirus.