Yogesh K Porwar & Avanth Kumar Kankaria
Karnataka government has withdrawn the night curfew on Friday that was enforced across the state due to COVID-19.
The order also gave clearance to holding horse races with strict adherence to COVID-19 appropriate behaviour at the venues.
In an order on November 5,Karnataka chief secretary,P Ravi Kumar said that the night curfew, which was imposed between 10 pm to 5 am, is ‘withdrawn’.
Night curfew, which is being imposed from 10 PM to 5 AM is herewith withdrawn,” he said.
The order made a special reference to horse racing and said that while the activity can resume, only fully vaccinated people will be allowed to enter the premises hosting horse races in Karnataka.
Number of racing patrons attending horse racing shall be strictly as per the seating capacity of the venue and only fully vaccinated people with COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed entry into such premises,” the order said.
The Karnataka government had imposed a night curfew from July 3 after a two-month lockdown in light of COVID-19.
The state was among many other states which were severely hit during the second wave of COVID-19 that hit the country in April.
While the number of COVID-19 infections in Karnataka has come down significantly over the recent weeks.
All schools in the state have reopened with strict adherence to Covid-19 related precautions and guidelines.
The government has also eased restrictions at the international airports in the state.
The travellers no longer need to go through SPO2 routine checks (except in cases of fever, cough, cold, difficulty in breathing, etc) at airports.
In addition to this, the RT-PCR test report checking on arrival has also been discontinued, except for those from selected countries, notified by the Government of India, to be conducted at the airport.
Apart from this, the government had earlier decided to reopen swimming pools in the state with 50% capacity of each batch.
All visitors are required to be screened for fever and respiratory symptoms and only asymptomatic people who have taken both doses of anti-Covid jab will be allowed in.
The hotel industry in the state and the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) have welcomed the move as a key step in the revival of the service industry in cities such as Bengaluru.
