Bengaluru: Buoyed by the dipping Covid-19 cases and deaths, the Karnataka government has decided to lift most of the lockdown curbs including weekend curfew from Monday, July 5. All commercial establishments have got the green signal to resume activities across the state from Monday.
The government also decided to extend business hours of shops and establishments by four hours till 9pm, and allowed the reopening of malls, bars and restaurants. “The night curfew will continue to be in place from 9pm to 5am across the state”, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said after meeting the Group of Ministers on Covid-19.
However, the new relaxations will not apply to Kodagu district where the positivity rate is over 5%.
The Unlock 3.0 announcement came in the wake of Covid-19 cases consistently falling below the 3,000 mark over the past few days. These relaxations will be in force for a fortnight. “We will review the situation after July 19 and decide on further unlocking measures", Yediyurappa said.
Under the new guidelines, all shops, commercial establishments, industries, government, and private offices can be open till 9pm with 100% staff strength. Public transport, Namma Metro, autos and cabs can ply with 100% occupancy.
Temples and other religious centres can be open to the public but no offerings (or sevas) are allowed.
Bars and restaurants got the go-ahead to open till 9pm, with allowing to serve liquor. Currently, bars are not allowed to serve liquor.
As a precaution, 54 special teams comprising BBMP (civic body) marshals and police would be deployed across Bengaluru to book citizens violating COVID safety protocols like proper wearing of masks and physical distancing. To start with, the teams will monitor markets, malls, hotels, bars, traffic junctions, religious places, parks and important roads.
