Ahead of Christmas and New Year, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said that the public celebrations for the festivals have been restricted owing to Covid-19 and emergence of Omicron variant in the state.

The state government has this year restricted the public celebrations for New Year as however, celebrations are permitted in clubs and restaurants with 50% seating capacity without any special event like DJ. Also people need to be fully vaccinated. "These restrictions will be in effect from December 30 till Janury 2," said the chief minister.

The announcement comes after the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on Friday suggested the Bommai government to impose fresh restrictions such as Section 144 and night curfew ahead of Christmas and New Year.

The committe also suggested that the restrictions should be imposed for Christmas and New Year celebrations in Karnataka and advised the Bommai government to impose Section 144 from December 22 to January 2 and night curfew from December 30 till January 2 in Bengaluru and other identified cities across the State.

Notably, the restrictions come as 5 more cases of Omicron variant were found in Karnataka on Sunday, taking the total to 19. The five cases were detected in Dharwad, Bhadravathi in Shivamogga district, Udupi and Mangaluru.

All the infected people have been inoculated with both the doses of Covishield vaccine. Their travel history and contacts with international travellers are being ascertained.

None of them has any COVID-19 symptoms and were healthy, the department said.

The person isolated in Bhadravathi was in contact with 218 people and all of them underwent tests. Out of them, 26 have tested positive. Their samples have been sent for further probe, the department added.

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