The Karnataka government withdrew the night curfew order on Thursday, hours before its scheduled implementation date. In a statement, Prime Minister BS Yediyurappa’s office said the decision was made after public comment.
“In view of public opinion that the night curfew was not necessary, the decision was reviewed and after consulting with cabinet colleagues and senior officials it was decided to withdraw the night curfew,” the CMO statement said.
Yediyurappa called on people to exercise self-control through the use of face masks, hand hygiene and social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The night curfew was to be imposed in the state between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., starting on December 24. It was supposed to be in effect until January 2. The decision to impose it was made on Wednesday and it was withdrawn today.
The government decided to impose a nightly curfew in light of a new variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus detected in the UK. The government had even issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the night curfew.
Karnataka’s health minister, K Sudhakar, had said earlier in the day that the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) had warned the government about imposing a night curfew after which the decision was made.
On the possibility of a new variant of the coronavirus reaching Karnataka, the minister said that reports of laboratory tests of 300 to 400 people are likely to arrive on Thursday.
Some other states are moving forward with their decision to impose a nightly curfew to control the spread of the disease. Maharashtra was one of the first states to do so after news of the new strain of the virus emerged.
Iqbal Singh Chahal, the commissioner of the Mumbai civic body BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), said: “This is not a normal New Year and therefore we cannot have normal celebrations. The curfew is being imposed to ensure that such violations are not repeated.
Punjab, Manipur, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are the other states where the night curfew and other measures are being implemented to ensure that the people of the state remain safe.
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