Karnataka says no to New Year bash, but Christmas celebrations as usual

The New Year’s eve celebrations in Karnataka this year will be muted though the state government doesn’t plan to clamp any restrictions on Christmas.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that public gatherings have been banned, including parades at MG Road and Brigade road in Bengaluru, across the state. The chief minister said that pubs and restaurants can operate to 50% of their capacity on the condition that their staff is doubly vaccinated against COVID-19. The RT-PCR test is still mandatory for the staff before they report to work on December 30. DJs won’t be allowed anywhere.

Housing societies cannot host events on the New Year’s occasion either.

The CM said churches can hold prayers and meetings on December 25 following COVID-19 social distancing norms.

All the above restrictions will be in place from December 30 to January 2, 2022.

Also read: Why is Karnataka government keen on surveying churches?: Know more

On Monday (December 20), Karnataka reported five new cases of Omicron, taking the total count of the state to 19. All the five patients have mild symptoms with none of them having a recent travel history. One of them is from Dharwad, another is from Bhadravathi while two hail from Udupi and a 19-year-old girl is from Mangalore. All the five patients are doubly vaccinated, said Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar.

News18 reported that the Bhadravathi patient came in contact with 218 people, who underwent COVID tests. A total of 26 tested positive. Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing.

As per the Karnataka health ministry, the 19-year-old Mangalore girl had 18 primary and secondary contacts, who were found COVID positive later.