Karnataka to fine people Rs 1,000 for not wearing masks as COVID cases climb

With COVID-19 count crossing the 10K mark for the second time in a week in Karnataka, the State government has decided to penalise people not wearing masks.

The government order, which is expected to be out on Gandhi Jayanti would impose a fine of Rs 1000 for persons not wearing masks in cities, while the fine amount will be Rs 500 in rural areas. Karnataka has already recorded 6.11 lakh cases and stands third in the country, while it stands second in number of active cases.

On Thursday, Karnataka recorded 10070 fresh COVID-19 cases, for which the contribution of Bengaluru city alone was 4853. For the last ten days, Bengaluru has accounted for more than 4000 positive cases per day and it is inching towards 5000 mark.

Besides, Karnataka has the second highest active cases with a total of 1,10,412 active cases, which is next only to Maharashtra. The contribution of Bengaluru is almost 49475 and is expected to reach the 50K active cases mark by Friday evening.

The trouble with the administration is that the number of asymptomatic cases is at its peak. During random checks, it was found that 97 per cent in Karnataka are asymptomatic for COVID-19. Besides, the positive cases during random checking is recording over 12%, which is a sign that the CORONA war may drag on longer than expected.