Karnataka is planning to free itself from the lockdown by starting buses, auto and taxi services from Monday even as the state recorded 36 new Covid positive cases taking the total to 1092 with 36 deaths.
Of the 36, the virus had a free run in Bengaluru with 14 contacts of a coronavirus patient in the busy Shivajinagar area testing positive for Covid 19 on Saturday. This comes a day after 11 contacts of the same patient tested positive on Friday.
The source patient is a 34-year-old man who was working as a housekeeping staff at Shifa Hospital, which was shut down by the civic authorities after a doctor who treated a COVID-19 patient tested positive for the virus last month.
Meanwhile, the government indicated on Friday that it would ease some restrictions on public transport, including cabs, buses and auto rickshaws, if the Centre approves its plan. However, the services will be resumed only on a limited scale.
In other Covid related developments, 150 single screen theatres in Karnataka are planning to shut down due to lockdown losses
Theatre owners say that despite presenting their problems to the government nothing has been done and that they had no options but to pull down the curtains permanently.
In a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Karnataka Film Exhibitors’ Association has said that the theatre owners in the state have suffered a loss of Rs 21 crore so far due to the lockdown.
The Association has requested the Finance Minister to include single screen theatre owners in the relief package of Rs 20 lakh crore that is meant to boost the country’s economy.
