Sunday curfew to return from July 5

Sunday curfew to return from July 5

Anil.Gejji@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: 28.06.2020

With Covid-19 infections rapidly rising in Karnataka — and particularly in Bengaluru — the state government on Saturday reintroduced Sunday curfew and extended night curfew hours through the week, among a slew of containment measures.

Sunday curfew will come into force from July 5. Like earlier, this will mean no movement of people or vehicles, except for essential work.

The extended night curfew, from 8pm to 5am, will be enforced from Monday (June 29). Currently, the night curfew is from 9pm to 5am.

The longer curfew, authorities said, will ensure early closure of liquor shops, restaurants, malls and other commercial activities which were allowed to operate till 9 pm. The curfew, however, will not apply to essential services, including public transport.

Govt offices to function 5 days a week from July 10-Aug 10

The decision was taken after the state reported a record spike of 918 cases and 11 deaths in a day, taking the total cases in the state to 11,923 and the toll to 191.

At a meeting chaired by chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Saturday, ministers and senior officials discussed the recommendations of a six-member expert panel and suggestions from elected representatives and explored all options available to the government.

Government offices can now function five days a week; Saturdays will be holidays for all state government employees, from July 10 to August 10. This apart, the government is mulling allowing government offices in Covid-19 clusters to function with 50% staff, and allowing employees to work on alternative days.