Bengaluru: The states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have sealed their borders to prevent inter-state buses from entering their states. However, essential services and essential travel shall remain unimpeded.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy also said that people entering the state shall only be permitted after getting screened at the checkpoints.
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will now also be permitted to screen domestic passengers at the airports after the DGCA accepted their requests.
Elsewhere; Bihar, Goa, Maharashtra and West Bengal have sealed their borders to incoming road transport.
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The Karnataka Cabinet also decided to adopt the following measures:
All upcoming elections shall be postponed indefinitely,
The Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru will be specially used to deal with COVID-19 related cases and other patients shall be treated in other hospitals,
Testing facilities in the state will be increased. The CM stated that for ever 10 Lakh people, 200 will be tested and
The Balabrooie Guest House will be used as a war room to fight the deadly virus and a district task force too shall be set up.
These measures shall remain in place till March 31.
The state is also reporting an increase in the prices of vegetables as panic buying has set in.
75 districts across India will also remain in a state of lockdown till March 31. The following districts in Southern India will remain under a state of lockdown, wherein only essential services shall be permitted:
Andhra Pradesh: Prakasam, Vijaywada and Vizag.
Karnataka- Bengaluru, Chikkabalapura, Mysore, Kodagu and Kalburgi.
Kerala- Allapuzha, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kannur, Kasargod, Kottayam, Mallapuram, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvanthapuram and Thrissur.
Tamil Nadu- Chennai, Erode and Kanchipuram.
Telengana- Bhadradri Kothapuram, Hyderabad, Medchai, Rangareddy and Sangareddy.
In Southern India, the state of Kerala remain the most affected and Karnataka has reported one death from the district of Kalburgi.