As the cases of coronavirus and omicron are in rise day after day in the state, the government is expected to continue the night curfew which end on January 7 and also announce a few tough restrictions yo avoid spreading the viruses.

State capital Bengaluru may have to undergo strict rules as about 90pc of total cases in the state reported from the city snd also it is in the ‘Red Zone’ in the list declared by the Union government.

“It is important to sound an alert in Bengaluru. We can save people’s lives if we impose more restrictions in Bengaluru and reduce the number of hospitalisations,” Minister R Ashoka said.

Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said, “Our stand is very clear. In the past, lockdown was imposed. The same should not happen again. For this, we are taking stringent measures. People have to cooperate with us…We have to see how coronavirus is. We saw it increasing in a big way in Bengaluru. We will take a call keeping that in mind.”

Karnataka on Saturday reported over 1,000 new Covid cases and five deaths, taking the positivity rate to 0.86%. As on Sunday morning, the Omicron tally of the state is 64.

Karnataka education minister BC Nagesh on Saturday tested positive for Covid-19 with mild symptoms.

Bommai recently hinted of stricter curbs in the state. “In the days to come we will take certain important decisions,” Bommai said earlier.

The country is seeing a surge of infections possibly triggered by Omicron, the latest variant of SARS-CoV-2, the first cases of which in India were found in Karnataka. In one month, the variant has spread to 23 states and Union Territories calling for urgent containment strategies.

Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal have imposed strict restrictions as scientists have projected that the third wave of the pandemic has already hit the country and the peak will be witnessed in January, February.