Night curfew timings revised in Bengaluru; Major roads to be closed from 6 pm today till 5 am tomorrow

Bengaluru, Dec 31: In view of rising COVID-19 cases and its Omicron variant, the Karnataka government on Thursday said the revised timings as the city gears up for celebration to welcome the New Year.

The state government said the prohibitory order within the limits of Bengaluru City Commissionerate shall remain with revised timings..

"The prohibitory order within the limits of Bengaluru City Commissionerate shall remain with revised timings, that is, from 6 pm on December 31 to 5 am on January 1, 2022," the order read.

The order stated that the gathering of five or more persons in public places for the celebrations of New Year in any form is prohibited in Bengaluru.

"Hotels, Malls, Restaurants, Clubs or any similar establishment shall not organize any special DJ, events or shows in the city. However, they may carry out their regular business activities following COVID-19 protocols," the order said.

Meanwhile, five more cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been detected in Karnataka, Health Minister K Sudhakar said, taking the state's tally of Omicron cases to 43 on Wednesday.

(1) 22 yr female, Davanagere (Travelled from USA) (2) 24 yr male, Bengaluru (Returned from USA via Qatar) (3) 53 yr male, Tamil Nadu (Arrived at KIAL from Dubai) (4) 61 yr male, Bengaluru (Travelled from Ghana via Doha)," Health Minister K Sudhakar said in a tweet.

Stating that fifth case is a 41-year-old male from Mumbai (travelled from Mumbai to Bengaluru by flight), he said, "All positive persons have been isolated and primary and secondary contacts have been identified and tested." The country's first two Omicron cases were detected in the State on December 2.