The withdrawal of weekend curfew in Mysuru announced by the State government on Monday was welcomed by the trade bodies, which had been vociferously opposing the move on the grounds that COVID-19 pandemic in the district was under control.
Non-essential shops and business establishments in Mysuru remained closed on Saturdays and Sundays for the last four weeks, much to the disappointment of traders and merchants, who were already reeling under financial losses arising out of an extended COVID-19 lockdown earlier this year.
Welcoming the withdrawal of the weekend curfew, President of Federation of Organisations and Associations of Mysuru Prashant B.S. urged the authorities to consult the representatives of trade body before taking any such decision in future. He also appealed to fellow traders and merchants to ensure that that they run the business following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) announced by the government relating to wearing of mask, maintaining social distance and use of sanitisers.
Mr. Prashant also appealed to the government to review the timings of night curfew by enforcing it from 11 p.m. instead of the current 9 p.m. Shop owners have to starting winding up operations by 8 p.m. to abide by the 9 p.m. timeline. With a lot of business including eateries and restaurants depending on tourists for business, early imposition of night curfew hit them badly, he said.
COVID-19
Meanwhile, the seven-day average test positivity rate (TPR) in Mysuru was only a shade above one per cent at 1.01 per cent as per the State COVID-19 War Room report dated August 29. Karnataka’s seven-day average test positivity rate on August 29 was 0.70 per cent.
The number of weekly COVID-19 cases in Mysuru too had been on a declining trend. While the week ending August 29 had reported 552 cases, the previous week the number of cases were 618. About a month ago, the number of cases reported during a week was 714.
On Monday, Mysuru had reported 73 fresh cases of COVID-19 against 8,549 samples that were tested. While the number of active cases in the district dipped below 1,000 and reached 976, no death due to COVID-19 was reported in the district on Monday.
