Bengaluru Lockdown: Unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases forces week-long lockdown. All you need to know

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Bengaluru will undergo a strict lockdown from July 14 till July 22 in light of a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases. Authorities announced the week-long lockdown on Saturday which will be imposed at 8 pm on July 14 and will last till 5 am on July 22. 

This step has been taken by the administration after there were several contradictory statements coming from Karnataka's political class about the spread of COVID-19 in Bengaluru. 

COVID-19 surge in Bengaluru

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had admitted on July 9 that COVID-19 had become uncontrollable in a few districts, including Bengaluru. 

To give you an idea of the surge of cases in the city, on May 30, when the nationwide lockdown was lifted, Bengaluru had 386 COVID-19 cases, out of which only 176 were active cases. The city had to bear the loss of only 12 patients. On June 30, the number of cases stood at 4,904, out of these 4,476 were active cases. And the death toll rose to 83. 

If that was bad, the worst was yet to come. In the first 10 days of July, Bengaluru has seen a surge of 11,958 cases and 146 deaths. 

This has resulted in the state government, which was once against the lockdown, to reimpose restrictions as a measure to curb this spiking trend. 

What's open?

During the lockdown in Bengaluru, essential services like hospitals, medical stores, grocery shops, diaries, will be allowed to function. People have been advised to maintain strict social distancing, wear masks, take other measures to protect themselves from coronavirus. 

Exams on time

Yediyurappa govt has announced that PG and medical exams that have already been announced, will be held as schedule.