Dr K Sudhakar, minister for medical education, meanwhile said that the government had only issued an ‘advisory’ about large gatherings but had not banned any such events.

“It is an advisory from the government of Karnataka to remain at home as much as possible, avoid large gatherings and not working in large office spaces like the IT employees, so many events have been planned and marriages fixed, people just have to careful,” he said.

He said that while malls, theatres, schools and colleges would be closed, people have been asked to maintain basic hygiene guidelines. When inquired about the participation of over 1,000 people at the RSS meet, he said that Indian weddings had ‘50,000 invitees on an average’.

“Karnataka is taking a lead to prevent the spread of the virus. All the individuals have been sensitised enough. It is just a precaution, the government is not stopping anything,” he said.