Bengaluru, Jul 19 (IANS): A complete lockdown has been imposed in Karnataka's Kodagu district on two weekends (Saturday and Sunday) of this month in view of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, an official said on Saturday.
"Rising Covid cases, including deaths have forced the administration to declare complete lockdown across the district on this weekend and next weekend (July 25-26) to contain the deadly virus," an official told IANS on phone from Madikeri.
Kodagu is about 240km southwest of Bengaluru in the southern state.
"Only shops selling milk, vegetables, fruits, groceries, medicines and other essentials will be open for three hours from 6-9am across the district to allow people to buy their daily needs," said the official.
Except personnel on duty and those involved in essential services, movement of people and vehicles will not be allowed to prevent crowding and violating lockdown guidelines like social distancing.
"As state-run and private buses will not operate during the weekend, people will not be allowed to commute on their personal vehicles except in emergency," said the official.
Pre-scheduled marriages are allowed with the permission of local bodies, as per lockdown guidelines, which stipulate restricting guests to 50 people only.
New containment zones have been notified in Bhagavathi Nagar, Chowdeshwari Nagar, Mahdevpet and Hebbattageri in the district.
With 10 new cases on Saturday, the district's Covid tally increased to 259, including 140 active after 114 were discharged, while 5 succumbed to the infection so far.
In a related development, the district Brahmanara Sangha conducted aDhanavantri Yagna at Annapoorneshwari temple at Gandhinagar in Moornadu, seeking divine intervention to check the virus spread of the virus.
Lockdown will also be observed on Sunday across the state, including in Bengaluru Urban and Rural, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad and Kalaburagi districts, which are under lockdown for 7-9 days since Tuesday.
With record 4,537 cases, the state's Covid tally shot up to 59,652 on Saturday including 36,631 active cases as 21,775 patients have been discharged after recoveries so far, with 1,018 in the day, while 1,240 have succumbed to the virus till date.