Following reports of free movement of people in some urban areas and national highways, Karnataka Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar on Monday directed all Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to close all national highways in the State during the lockdown period.
Mr. Bhaskar convened a meeting of top officials of various departments and instructed the DCs and SPs to strictly implement the Centre’s guidelines without any relaxation. The Centre had issued guidelines on March 24 directing all State governments to follow the guidelines to control the spread of COVID-19.
Sources said that Chief Minster B.S. Yediyurappa has told DCs and SPs to make arrangements on border areas for food and quarantine for migrants returning from cities to villages. It was reported that a large number of shop workers, autorickshaw drivers, goods/transport vehicles, maids, day labourers, and other informal workers were returning home from cities following the lockdown.
For preventing community spread, Mr. Bhaskar asked top officials of each district to monitor primary and secondary contacts of patients who have tested positive. He also directed DCs and SPs to take strict action against shop owners who charge high prices for essential commodities. The police have been told to take steps to ensure practice of social distance by consumers during entry or purchase of essential daily items at grocery shops/malls.
