COVID-19 cases cross 300-mark in Karnataka, 13 deaths so far

Taking the death toll to 13, a 66-year-old male patient died in Bengaluru late night on Wednesday. “He (P 195) was referred from a private hospital and was admitted to Victoria Hospital, and was on ventilator support since April 10,” the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services confirmed on Thursday.

#Karnataka reports 13th death die to #COVID19 after a 66-yr-old male patient died in #Bengaluru late on April 15. “He was referred from a private hospital and was admitted in Victoria Hospital, and was on ventilator support since April 10,” @DHFWKA confirms. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/8TV0Yxv4is

— Ralph Alex Arakal (@ralpharakal) April 16, 2020

According to health officials, the deceased was diagnosed with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and was tested positive on April 9. “He had travelled from Manipur to Bengaluru on March 12,” health officials added.

An 80-year-old woman in Belagavi and a 65-year-old man from Chikkaballapura had also died on Wednesday.

While the first fatality due to the pandemic in India was reported from Kalaburagi in the state on March 10 when a 76-year-old man died “due to co-morbidities”, the death toll has seen a spike from 7 to 13 in the last four days.

Here are the details of COVID-19-related fatalities reported from Karnataka so far

1. 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi who succumbed to co-morbidities on March 10
2. 70-year-old woman from Chikkaballapura (travel history to Mecca) on March 25
3. 60-year-old man from Tumkur (travel history to Delhi) on March 27
4. 75-year-old man from Bagalkote on April 3
5. 65-year-old man from Kalaburagi who succumbed to SARI on April 8
6. 80-year-old woman from Gadag who succumbed to SARI on April 8
7. 55-year-old man from Kalaburagi who succumbed to SARI on April 13
8. 65-year-old man from Bengaluru on April 13
9. 69-year-old man from Vijayapura on April 14
10. 76-year-old man from Bengaluru on April 14
11. 65-year-old man from Chikkaballapura who succumbed to co-morbidities on April 15
12. 80-year-old female from Belagavi who succumbed to co-morbidities on April 15
13. 66-year-old male from Bengaluru who succumbed to SARI on April 15

‘BBMP identified hotspots in Bengaluru to educate people’

A couple of days after a part of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) daily report of COVID-19 which mentioned 38 wards in Bengaluru as ‘COVID-19 hotspots’ went viral, BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar Thursday clarified that the “dynamic” list was meant to “educate people and not to announce a seal down.”

“The BBMP hotspots list is dynamic and is issued to educate people. However, this does not mean that all wards mentioned in the list will be sealed. This list helps the public to take adequate precautions to break the chain and win the war against the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.

The BBMP Commissioner further added that the number of such wards has reduced to 32, taking into account that no new cases were recorded in some areas for the last 28 days.

According to the zonal-wise breakup of the latest list provided by the BBMP, 9 each of such wards are in South and East Zones while 5 each are in Mahadevapura and West zones. While 2 ‘hotspot wards’ are in Yelahanka Zone, one is in RR Nagar.

CM Yediyurappa launches mobile testing kiosks

Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa Thursday launched mobile testing kiosks in Bengaluru. According to health officials, these kiosks will be deployed in hotspots identified in the city to ensure large-scale contactless testing is done.

Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa inaugurates mobile COVID-19 testing kiosks in Bengaluru. Photo: Twitter/Tejasvi_Surya

Designed by doctors of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), the mobile testing kiosks will begin operations from Bangalore South, MP Tejasvi Surya said.

“A total of five such mobile kiosks will ply along areas of Bengaluru, to begin with. The health department is planning to send the next batch of such kiosks to Mysuru, Belagavi, and Dakshina Kannada districts,” Suresh Kumar said.

Bengaluru airport launches intense cleaning drive

As the lockdown to prevent further spread of the coronavirus pandemic is in progress, the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru is undergoing intense disinfection and sanitisation drive across its premises.

According to BIAL officials, the drive covers the Terminal premises spread across 1,55,000 square metres, apart from the airside and landside infrastructure that have undergone multiple rounds of deep cleaning and sanitisation. In addition, Engineering & Maintenance teams have utilised this period to polish floors and attend to various other requirements of infrastructure upkeep, officials added.

#COVID19: Intense disinfection and sanitisation drive in progress at @BLRAirport premises. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/jyLzwikjo1

— Express Bengaluru (@IEBengaluru) April 16, 2020

“BLR Airport is all geared up to welcome passengers back. During the closure, the entire Airport premises, the Terminal and all the F&B outlets are in the process of being disinfected and deep cleaned to ensure the highest standard of hygiene and free of contamination,” Hari Marar, MD & CEO, BIAL said.

“We will increase the frequency of misting, sanitising and deep cleaning once the Airport resumes operations. BIAL will continually work towards a safe passenger experience for all our passengers,” he added.

The areas frequently touched by passengers and high-traffic areas such as Security Hold Area, Airline Counters, kiosks, Self-Bag Drop machines, trolleys, chairs, trays, and ATMs are sanitised every two hours through misting. That apart, chairs, trolleys and other passenger touchpoints have been scrubbed clean.

The officials claimed that the washrooms across the Airport premises are sanitised on a regular basis, irrespective of the frequency of usage. “Disinfectant is sprayed every four hours at Immigration counters, elevators, lounges, ancillary buildings, office spaces of various departments at the Terminal, apart from manual cleaning. The CISF Barracks, located at the Airport premises, are disinfected every 12 hours. In addition, false ceilings, boarding bridges, doors, windows, elevators, facade glass, floor, high raise pillars, restrooms, baggage trays, signage boards, walkways, carpets, and AC grills are thoroughly scrubbed to keep the facility spotless. On the Airside, all vehicles, the apron, and runways are sanitised twice each day,” the officials added.

“On resumption of services at BLR Airport, passengers will have access to sanitisers, placed at 500 locations at the Terminal. The frequency of sanitisation and cleaning will increase also increase after the resumption of operations,” an official spokesperson of BIAL said.

82 recover from COVID-19 in Karnataka

According to the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services, 82 people have recovered from the infection so far. As many as 218 patients are under treatment as on April 16 (12 noon).

The first coronavirus positive case in Karnataka was recorded on March 9.

‘68% of cases in Karnataka had no overseas travel history’

Contrary to the initial cases reported in Karnataka, 68% of cases in the state were confirmed in patients who had no overseas travel history. According to the analysis of the Karnataka war room data by Nodal Officer Munish Moudgil IAS, 215 cases of 313 (as of 2 pm, April 16) are of those who have travelled only within India. While 10% of cases are of contact persons to those who returned from overseas, over 8% of cases are from travellers who returned to the state from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Considering the age-wise distribution of COVID-19 positive patients in Karnataka, 24% are of the age group 30-40 while 22% are of the age group 20-30. Around 5% of the total cases were confirmed in patients aged above 70, according to Karnatak War Room statistics.

Meanwhile, over 70% of the positive cases recorded in the state so far are in male patients.

No signs of community transmission yet: Minister Suresh Kumar

“There are no signs of community transmission yet in Karnataka,” Minister Suresh Kumar reiterated on Thursday. He added that the government has ascertained the source of infection in almost all of the total 315 COVID-19 positive cases in the state except for some cases. “The data with us clearly indicates travel or a contact history leading to the infection in most cases. While the exact source is yet to be ascertained for 2-3 cases, health officials are investigating the matter.”

#COVID19India: #Karnataka is 10th among all states and union territories in India in fatality rate due to #COVID19, @DHFWKA confirms. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/YQpMd4V64H

— Express Bengaluru (@IEBengaluru) April 16, 2020

To date, 22 cases were identified as Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) cases while two others are of patients who were diagnosed with Influenza-Like Illness (ILI).

“Over 500 SARI cases have been tested in the state so far. Testing will be intensified for such cases in the coming days,” Jawaid Akhtar, Additional Chief Secretary (H&FW) said.

Cop travels 430 kms on bike to deliver medicines, Commissioner lauds effort

Reacting to a distress call made by a cancer patient in Dharwad, a head constable from Bengaluru City Police rode to Dharwad to deliver life-saving medicines.

Kudos to Shri. S. Kumaraswamy, Head Constable who travelled solo on bike from Bengaluru to Dharawad traversing 430 kms to provide life saving medication for a cancer patient.@CPBlr appreciated his good deed. pic.twitter.com/BSJm6caRie

— BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) April 16, 2020

Identified as S. Kumaraswamy, the head constable travelled solo on his bike traversing 430 kms to reach the cancer patient in Dharwad, the Bengaluru City Police confirmed in a statement. The policeman was later appreciated by Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao for his noble gesture.

BBMP caps meat prices

After receiving multiple complaints from consumers on excessive prices charged for chicken and mutton in the city, Bengaluru’s local civic body the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) notified a maximum price set for sales.

According to the public notification issued by BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar, meat stalls should not charge more than Rs 125 for live chicken, Rs 160 for dressed chicken and Rs 180 for skin-out chicken per kilogram.

The highest price meat stalls can charge per kilogram for mutton is Rs 700.

“The rising price of meat is troubling citizens facing financial strain, especially since the lockdown began on March 23. Strict action will be initiated against meat stall owners if found violating the price-cap,” a BBMP release said, citing provisions under the Consumer Protection Act (1986) and Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act (1976).

 

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