The State government on Thursday decided to request the Civil Aviation Ministry to reduce the number of flights from five States with a high prevalence of COVID-19 cases — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — to Karnataka. “There may not be adequate quarantine facilities in Karnataka if there is a huge turnout in a short span of time,” said Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs J.C. Madhuswamy on Thursday.
The numbers were also turning out to be a burden on the testing infrastructure of the State, he added.
Karnataka has had a spike in the number of cases ever since inter-State travel was opened up, with several returnees from States such as Maharashtra testing positive.
Restrictions have also been imposed on people coming by road from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat to ensure adequate quarantine facilities.
Interestingly, while the Minister had said, soon after the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, that arrivals from high-prevalence States would be “banned”, it was later modified to say that it was only a request for reduction in the number of flights.
After the resumption of domestic flight services, Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru has handled 182 arrivals and 190 departures. The airport has received flights from high-risk States identified by the State government. On Thursday till 5.30 p.m, 33 flights arrived and 36 flew to various destinations. The Cabinet has not discussed any relaxation of the existing lockdown norms. Lockdown 4.0 will continue till May 31, the Minister added.