K’taka govt imposes cap on number of people attending celebrations

Bengaluru: With COVID-19 cases witnessing an upsurge in the State, the Karnataka government on Friday put a cap on the number of people that can gather at events and celebrations like marriages, among others.

As per the new rules, only 500 people will be allowed at marriages if these are held in open spaces and 200 if the events are held at halls or closed spaces.

A circular to this effect was released by Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Jawaid Akhtar, who said the measure has been taken amid the emergence of new COVID-19 clusters and fear of a second wave.

For birthday celebrations, 100 people would be allowed in open spaces, and 50 in closed spaces.

A similar number will be allowed at funerals.

However, at cremations and burials, only 50 people would be allowed.

For religious and political gatherings in open spaces, the number has been restricted to 500.

The test targets for a few districts have been set aimed at controlling the spread of virus-like- Belagavi 4,000 tests per day, Bengaluru and BBMP together 40,000 per day, Dakshina Kannada 3,000 a day, Mysuru 5,000 tests per day, among others.