BENGALURU: Inching towards exiting the lockdown in a graded manner, the Karnataka Government on Sunday said all activities hitherto prohibited will be allowed to restart in phases, except in containment zones. On Saturday, the Centre had laid down the path to ‘Unlock 1.0’, allowing reopening of places of worship and restaurants among others.

In a circular, State Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar said all activities will be permitted in areas outside containment zones, except some, which will be allowed as per Standard Operating Procedures prescribed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in a phased manner. In Phase 1, places of worship, hotels and restaurants, other hospitals services and shopping malls will be opened from June 8. Under Phase 2, a decision on openings of schools, colleges, training/coaching institutes, but this will be only in July. The government will hold consultations with parents and other stakeholders prior to this.

Under Phase 3, international air travel, as permitted by the Union Home Ministry, metro rails, cinema halls, gymnasiums, entertainment parks, bars, auditoriums, assembly halls, social/political/sports/entertainment/academic/cultural/religious functions and other large congregations will be allowed based on the assessment of the situation.

Night curfew will continue, though there will be some relaxation. Movement of people will be restricted from 9 pm to 5 am, as against the earlier 7 pm to 7 am, and local authorities have been directed to ensure strict compliance. The lockdown will continue in containment zones till June 30 and the areas will be demarcated by local authorities in line with the State Health Ministry guidelines. In the containment zones, only essential services will be allowed and people will not be allowed to move out. There will be intensive contact tracing, house-to-house surveillance and clinical interventions. 

Children, elderly advised to stay home

The district authorities have also been directed to identify buffer zones outside containment zones where new cases are likely to occur. As regards movement of goods and people, there will be no restrictions and passes or special permission will not be required for inter- and intra-state movement. However, movement of people into Karnataka will be subject to orders of the Health Department in view of public health and the prevalence of Covid-19 in other states.

Movement of Passenger and Shramik Special trains, domestic air passengers, stranded Indian nationals will continue to be regulated as per procedures. People with co-morbidities, elderly people, children below 10 and pregnant women are advised to stay home while installation of the Aarogya Setu will be mandatory in offices and work places.

The circular states that persons violating the norms will be liable to proceedings as per Section 51-60 of the Disaster Management Act , 1950. Directives like wearing of mask, social distancing, ban on gatherings, smoking in public places or the use of non-smoking tobacco products at public places will continue to be in force.