Weekend Curfew in Karnataka: Karnataka government may lift weekend curfew. Hubli News – Times of India

BENGALURU: Under mounting pressure from the government, public representatives and the business community, there is a possibility of withdrawing the weekend curfew and reducing the night curfew by one hour.
As Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai hinted on Wednesday when he said the hospitalization numbers are low due to the severity of the third wave, people are of the opinion that the pandemic can be controlled only by following COVID-appropriate behaviour. Therefore the restrictions are unnecessary. About 95% of the active cases are in home isolation.
“We will convey this sentiment to the committee of experts and based on their advice, we will decide whether to continue with the restrictions,” Bommai told reporters. The CM is scheduled to meet members of the Covid-19 task force and technical advisory committee on Friday, where he is expected to announce his decision.
The government imposed a night curfew from 28 December and a weekend curfew from 7 January after the daily cases increased in the first week of January. As per an earlier decision, the weekend curfew was to end on January 19.
The business community and those working in the unorganized sector, whose livelihoods have been affected by the restrictions, had vociferously opposed the weekend curfew. Hoteliers and bar owners wanted the night curfew to start an hour later – at 11 pm instead of 10 pm. In this regard, a delegation of hoteliers met the CM last week.
Many legislators and MPs of the ruling party had opposed these restrictions. RDPR Minister KS Eshwarappa was the first to object to the weekend curfew, claiming that it would affect the livelihood of the working and business classes. Since then, the opposition has grown only on the insistence of Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi that the government should reconsider. On Wednesday also, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha questioned the reason behind imposing curfew over the weekend.
This has put the government in a dilemma as cases are rising on the one hand while on the other there are demands for easing of restrictions.