Will take a call by evening on whether to shutdown entire

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Monday the government would take a decision on whether to shut down all commercial activities, barring essential services, in the entire state by this evening.

The Karnataka government has already announced shutdown of all commercial activities barring essential services, in nine districts, where COVID-19 cases have been reported, till March 31.

They are: Bengaluru city, Bengaluru Rural, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Dharwad, Chikkaballapura, Kodagu and Belagavi.

"By evening, after consultations with Leader of Opposition and all (concerned), we will take a decision", Yediyurappa told reporters this afternoon when asked if the shut-down would be extended to the entire State.

Six new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Karnataka on Sunday, taking the total number of infections to the respiratory disease to 26 -- the highest number of positive cases in a single day in the State.