In Lockdown 4.0, Karnataka decided to do something it had not done in the first three lockdowns. It banned the entry of people from three states – Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat till 31 May, till when Lockdown 4.0 is in force. Two of these three states share their borders with Karnataka.
This was done because these three states have reported the highest number of Corona positive cases in India. Also last week, 50 per cent of the cases reported in Karnataka were of people who had returned from these states.
What is the Karnataka government going to do now?
A senior official of the Government told Filter Kaapi that it is waiting for the DGCA to clarify its position. After which Karnataka is mulling requesting the Civil Aviation ministry and the DGCA that no flights from any airport in these three states be permitted into any airport in Karnataka.
This will be a huge decision given the usual traffic on the Mumbai-Bengaluru and Chennai-Bengaluru sectors in particular.
On the other hand, a senior officer of the Bengaluru police has indicated that all passengers arriving on flights from these three states may have to undergo a mandatory quarantine in the city they land in. But the final word on this has clearly not been spoken yet.