COVID precaution: Bengaluru city bus service suspended for next two weekends

In view of the weekend curfew in Bengaluru, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has suspended bus services for next two weekends — January 8-9 and January 15-16.

The BMTC said 10 percent operations will be available for those working in essential services from 6 am to 10 pm only.

On Tuesday (January 5), the Karnataka government had announced the imposition of weekend curfew starting January 7, while extending the night curfew for another two weeks.

The government also decided to shut schools and pre-university colleges except for 10th and 12th standard students for two weeks.

The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in which senior ministers including Revenue Minister Ashoka, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar and Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, medical experts and senior officials participated.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Wednesday (January 5) said people need to be cautious for the next four to six weeks to control a possible third wave of COVID-19 and the spread of Omicron variant in the state.

Also read: Karnataka imposes weekend lockdown starting Jan 7, extends night curfew

The minister called on the people to follow the guidelines and containment measures announced by the government and cooperate with the administration.

“New COVID guidelines have been released after a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister. My appeal to the people is, four to six weeks is crucial. As we have observed worldwide, it is declining in five to six weeks. This wave will not be for too long, like in the first and second wave that was for three to four months,” Sudhakar said.

On Tuesday, Karnataka recorded a big rise in COVID cases with 2,479 infections and four deaths in a day. This takes the cumulative infections and fatalities to 30,13,326 and 38,355 respectively, the state health department said.