Respect curfew if you want lockdown to end, BS Yediyurappa tells people

Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa on Monday urged citizens to respect the ongoing curfew and respond positively to the government's efforts to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus outbreak. He said the ongoing lockdown would end on April 14 only if people respected it by staying indoors.

“At this hour of crisis, it is not good on our part to come out of houses and violate the curfew. Ending of lock-down depends on strictness with which one follows the curfew and maintains the social distance. If one follows the curfew strictly, lockdown period will automatically end on April 14 and if not, government will be forced to review the situation. Whether to end the lockdown or not is in your hands,” Yediyurappa said in a statement. He also pointed out that “people in some urban centres are brazenly violating curfew rules and are forcing the police to act…Don't force them to use force and later blame them for stern action.”

Even as developed countries were struggling to beat back the outbreak, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's precautionary measures were yielding results, the chief minister said. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has apologised and said that “lockdown was an inevitable step taken by the government to protect people from the pandemic”. We have to realise the predicament of a prime minister who always cares for the wellbeing of the country and its people,” he said.