Coronavirus: Lockdown In 9 districts Of Karnataka Till March 31, All Public Transport To Remain Suspended

The Karnataka government on Sunday said that 9 districts of the state will be under lockdown till March 31 in view of coronavirus outbreak. Only essential services will be exempted during this period. All inter-state borders will be closed to contain the spread of Coronavirus by preventing movement of people and vehicles from neighbouring states, an official said. It said that Section 144 of CrPC will be imposed across the state for 3 hours after the ‘Janata Curfew’ will end at 9 pm.

"At an emergency meeting chaired by chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa at his home in the city''s northern suburb, the state government has decided to close its borders with the neighbouring states to restrict inter-state movement of people," the official said in a statement here.

Karnataka shares border with Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. "People living in cities and towns have been advised not to visit their villages in the state or other states," noted the official.

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The state government has also decided to postpone the 10th class (SSLC) board exams from March 27 to a later date.

Meanwhile, the Government of Indian has decided to completely shutdown 75 districts across the country where coronavirus cases have been reported, Union Health Ministry officials said on Sunday. The officials asked all the state government to ensure that the poor don't face problems in these districts during lockdown. The decisions have been taken at a high-level meeting attended by chief secretaries of all states and the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary to the prime minister.

In view of the need to contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19, it was agreed that there was an urgent need to extend the restrictions on the movement of non-essential passenger transport, including interstate transport buses till March 31, a Union Home Ministry official said.

“To break the chain of transmission, the easiest method is to isolate the people coming from outside. The virus is not present in the air, it can be transmitted through droplets released,” Indian Council of Medical Research Director-General Balram Bhargava said.

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The districts where lockdown was announced are from states that include Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Kerala.

With Agency Inputs