Residents wait to receive the vaccine for COVID-19 at an apartment building in Bengaluru. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)Karnataka Bengaluru Coronavirus News April 28 Highlights: Karnataka’s COVID-19 tally surpassed the 14 lakh mark while the active cases in the state crossed the three lakh figure with 31,830 fresh infections being reported on Tuesday, the Health department said. As many as 180 deaths took the toll to 14,807, it said.
According to the health bulletin, Karnataka’s cumulative COVID cases now stood at 14,00,775, while there are 3,01,899 active cases including 2,063 in ICUs. So far 10,84,050 people were discharged cumulatively including 10,793 in the state on Tuesday.
Of the three lakh active cases in the state, 2,06,223 are in Bengaluru Urban district alone. The city contributed more than 50 per cent of day’s cases and mortalities with 17,550 fresh infections and 97 deaths on Tuesday. The city has so far reported 6,87,751 infections and 6,002 deaths.
There were 1,70,117 tests done on Tuesday including 1,51,631 using the RT-PCR and other methods taking the total tests done so far to 2.51 crore, the department added. Over 90 lakh people have been inoculated so far, it said. (PTI)
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Karnataka Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to “address the ongoing health emergency” in the country, and demanded that the Centre be committed to help state governments combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
He added that the Centre needs to intervene in the present scenario. “People are dying without necessary adequate healthcare infrastructure like beds, ventilators, medical oxygen, and potential treatment drugs like Remdesivir. The demand is 35-40 times more than what is being allocated to Karnataka,” he said.
While Karnataka contributes more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore as taxes, the Centre has allocated only Rs 21,694 crore back to the state, he alleged. “In the interest of the people of Karnataka, I strongly demand the Central government to release more funds and allocate necessary infrastructure immediately to address the crisis,” he wrote to Modi.
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Amid the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic across Karnataka, the state Congress unit to start a 24/7 dedicated helpline and war room to help people during the Covid-19 crisis, while leaders who own medical colleges and hospitals reserve 100 beds for covid patients.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) D K Shivakumar said that the helpline wll come up very soon which will also work as the war room to assist citizens with telemedicine, consultation, counselling, food delivery, sourcing leads for hospital beds, medication, oxygen and ventilator supply etc.
“We will use our Congress cadres, volunteers and also leaders at the district, taluk and village levels to reach out to the people in need,” Shivakumar said.
The opposition party in Karnataka took the decision to set up the war room after directions issued by AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala.
Sanitation workers, including those deployed to collect medical waste, under Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have alleged that they have not been provided sufficient masks or gloves despite raising a demand with the authorities. “With almost 2 lakh active cases, our members who handle medical waste of those in home isolation are in a terrible situation. They have not been given any mask/gloves since last year despite asking for them repeatedly,” the BBMP Pourakarmika Sangha alleged.
According to Nirmala M, the President of the Sangha, the sanitation workers are being exposed to a more “severe and deadlier” strain of the virus ever since the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit Bengaluru.
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Doctors at the genome sequencing lab at NIMHANS in Bengaluru have detected 20 cases of “double mutant” variant (B.1.617) in two clusters reported from Bengaluru and Kalaburgi.
This is apart from 46 UK strain and six South Africa variant cases that had been reported earlier in Karnataka.
According to V Ravi, nodal officer for genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in Karnataka, all 20 cases had a travel history to Maharashtra.
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In Karnataka, several district health officers indicated that the vaccination for the 18-45 age group could be delayed by a week, though officially the government says it has adequate stocks. No statistics on existing stocks were available.“We have been given no guidelines on this yet. Senior officers have told us that procurement will take more time,” an official said.
Health Minister K Sudhakar told indianexpress.com that the state has placed an order for one crore doses of Covishield with SII. On procurement of Covaxin, the state is yet to spell out its stand. “Till date, we have inoculated 50 per cent of our healthcare workers, 30 per cent of frontline workers and 4 per cent of people aged above 60 and aged between 45-59 (with comorbidities) with both doses,” Sudhakar said.
While Karnataka has administered over 88 lakh doses, statistics show there is a sharp fall in those who have taken the second dose among the high-priority age groups. Only 15 per cent of those above 60 and five per cent of those in the 45-60 age category have taken the second jab. “We need to spread better awareness on why taking the second dose of the vaccine is so important,” said Dr Giridhar R Babu of the Public Health Foundation of India.
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Hours after the 14-day lockdown started in Karnataka to contain the spread of COVID-19, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday appealed to the people to abide by the norms to break the chain of Covid infection.
"The 2-week strict rules to break the chain of Covid virus have begun. My appeal to everyone: follow the guidelines, cooperate with the government, stay indoors, and step out only if it’s an emergency," he said.
"Together, we all can defeat the Covid-19 pandemic,” Yediyurappa tweeted.
ID cards or documents justifying the reason for commute and return to and from places would suffice to permit people to step out of their homes for essential or emergency purposes till May 12, Bengaluru City Police clarified on Wednesday.
"The Bengaluru City Police is not issuing any passes for any purpose during the period of lockdown from 28-4-2021 to 12-5-2021," the clarification mentioned.
The India Meteorological Department has predicted rain/thundershowers at a few places over south-interior, coastal and at isolated places over north-interior parts of Karnataka in the next 24 hours.
At the same time, mist is very likely during early morning hours in some areas of Bengaluru on Thursday, the forecast noted. "Maximum and Minimum temperatures very likely to be around 33 and 22 degrees Celsius respectively," it mentioned.
Karnataka Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to "address the ongoing health emergency" in the country, demanding that the Centre should be committed to help state governments combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The Central government played the role of a catalyst in increasing the number of (Covid-19) cases by allowing events like Kumbh mela and huge campaigns during election," Siddaramaiah noted. He added that it was unfortunate that the Central government was doing "very little to ease the stress" and did not plan for the second wave in advance, despite warning from the Parliamentary Committee.
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Wednesday continued to operate the ‘Fly Bus’ services from Bengaluru Airport to Mysuru, and Madikeri for the benefit of passengers arriving at the airport in the Karnataka capital.
While schedules are planned even amid the curfew in place across the state till May 12 (6 am), officials urged passengers to use the online booking facility (http://ksrtc.karnataka.gov.in) to confirm tickets.
Sanitation workers (pourakarmikas) working with Bengaluru's local body the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike have alleged that they have not been provided with sufficient masks or gloves despite high demand raised by them to the authorities. This includes those who are deployed to collect medical waste as well, they add.
'With almost 2 lakh active cases, our members who handle medical waste of those in home isolation are in a terrible situation. They have not been given any mask/gloves since last year despite asking for them repeatedly,' the BBMP Pourakarmika Sangha alleged.
They added that the sanitation workers were also not provided with transport facilities to mustering centres. 'There has been no proper toilet facilities, water, soaps, or sanitisers at these centres as well despite us working throughout the pandemic, Ratna, a worker said.
360,960 new cases of coronavirus infections were detected on Tuesday. So far, about 1.8 crore people in India have been infected. Active cases close to 30 lakh now. Daily death count crossed 3,000 mark for the first time. 3,293 deaths were reported on Tuesday.
States like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jharkhand reported hundreds of previously unaccounted deaths. Total death toll is now over two lakh.
As Karnataka went for a 14 day "close down" from Tuesday night, the regional passport office has announced that its office across Karnataka will be closed.
On Tuesday, in a statement, Bharath Kumar Kuthati, Regional Passport Officer, Bengaluru, said that all the Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) and the Post Office Passport Seva Kendras in Karnataka will be closed from Wednesday during the close down period.
The head office at Koramangala will also be closed for applicants and only emergency cases will be attended. He has requested applicants to reschedule their appointments accordingly.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Tuesday said it has filed a supplementary chargesheet naming former Karnataka minister R Roshan Baig and I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) founder and Managing Director Mohammed Mansoor Khan, among others, in the alleged Rs 4,000 crore ponzi scam.
According to CBI sleuths, the chargesheet was filed before the Special Judge for CBI cases in Bengaluru. “The former minister, his firm, and others, including the MD of a group of entities based at Bangalore and its other directors, have been named in the chargesheet in the case, in which investigation is ongoing,” sources in the CBI told Indianexpress.com.
Officers said that Baig had allegedly received several crores of rupees from IMA funds for election expenditure. “The funds from unauthorised deposits were allegedly raised from innocent public to the tune of Rs 4000 crore (approx) from around one lakh investors. This was then diverted to the minister, who spent funds from it on various social and cultural activities in his constituency to increase his popularity,” the chargesheet said.
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The Karnataka ‘close down’ announced by the Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, which will take effect from 9 pm Tuesday and will remain in force till 6 am of May 12, sent many across the state into panic buying. With just hours left to the mini-lockdown, scores were seen rushing to their nearest grocer, anxious to stock up on ration and other essentials.
Vegetable markets and grocery shops at all major cities wore a crowded look as locals gathered in numbers to fetch essentials. Most people mistook the government’s announcement as a total lockdown like the one announced by the CM on March 23, last year. While a few were seen massing outside liquor stores, most gathered at grocery shops.
As per the leeway granted under the current ‘close down’, shops selling essential commodities will remain open from 6 am to 10 am. Hospitals and pharmacies will be open, while liquor shops, restaurants and hotels can only offer takeaways. “Lockdown is good to avoid the spread of Covid-19 but the government should have given more time for people to stock up on groceries. Though it has allowed essential shops to remain open from 6 am to 10 am, this is not enough. Because of the limited hours to fetch essentials, shops will be more crowded, thereby enabling the virus to spread faster,” Chandiraka, a homemaker from Dasarahalli in North Bengaluru, said.
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All those above 18 years of age can register for vaccination against Covid-19 using the CoWIN platform or Aarogya Setu app, starting at 4 PM today. All Indian adults will be eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine starting May 1 so you can start registering in the afternoon.
There are currently two Covid vaccines being administered in India which include the Covaxin that has been developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, and Covishield that has been developed by the Oxford-AstraZeneca and is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. Sputnik V which was developed in Russia and is imported and sold in India by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories – has also been approved by the Indian drug regulator.
Read here on how to register through CoWIN and Aarogya Setu
A strict 14-day 'Closedown' has been imposed in Karnataka starting 9 pm Tuesday till May 12 to cut the chain of COVID-19 transmission amid a surge in the second wave of Covid-19 cases.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced the “close down” after a cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon.
All the shops were closed apart from hospitals and pharmacies. Shops selling essential commodities and other essential shops will be allowed to remain open only from 6 am to 10 am.
The Bengaluru City police Tuesday clarified that a fake video was circulated in social media which reportedly indicated vandalism and violence at a private hospital in the city.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Dharmender Kumar Meena, no such incident had taken place in Yeshwantpur area, which falls under his jurisdiction. "It has been observed that a false news item with a video regarding violence/vandalism in People's Tree Hospital, Yeshwantpur is doing rounds on social media. "No such violence or vandalism has taken place in this hospital. The video being circulated now is from a hospital in Delhi, not Bengaluru," he said.
He also warned people not to forward unverified messages or videos.
Doctors at the genome sequencing lab at NIMHANS in Bengaluru have detected 20 cases of “double mutant” variant (B.1.617) in two clusters reported from Bengaluru and Kalaburgi.
This is apart the 46 U.K. strain and six South Africa strain cases that had been reported earlier in Karnataka.
According to V. Ravi, nodal officer for genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in Karnataka, all the 20 cases had a travel history to Maharashtra.
The NIMHANS lab received the samples in late March and the sequencing was completed by the lab on April 15.
With Bengaluru going under 14-days ‘close down’ starting Tuesday night, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said he is confident that Covid-19 cases will reduce in another few days.
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announced the ‘close down’, which took effect from 9pm Tuesday night, following an unrelenting surge on Covid-19 cases across the state.
The BBMP chief said that stern action will be taken by the police against violators, adding that the civic administration is confident that the cases would decrease during the mini-lockdown.
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Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said makeshift hospitals with a capacity of nearly 3000 beds will be set up in Bengaluru within 20 days.
“Makeshift hospitals with a capacity of 2-3 thousand beds will be established in Bengaluru within 15-20 days. These will be set up in Victoria, Bowring and RGICD campuses. Each hospital will have 200-250 beds, 20 per cent beds with ICU ventilator, 60 per cent with oxygen and 20 per cent high flow oxygen,” he said, adding that the same will be replicated in other districts as well.
Further, speaking to reporters after a meeting with the Covid task force committee, he added, “We have decided to hire additional staff (other than the existing 400) for six months at a cost of Rs 11 crore in government call centres. These staff will work in different departments. Telemedicine system will also be put in place at a cost of Rs 20 crore,” he said.
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The lack of availability of a sufficient number of beds for critically ill Covid patients in Bengaluru is an “alarming situation”, the Karnataka High Court said Tuesday while hearing a plea on Covid-linked issues in the state.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Sreenivas Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar noted that there had only been a “marginal increase” in availability of beds in the city and that they were insufficient for the number of cases.
The court said the lack of medical facilities — beds, oxygen supply and key drugs like Remdesivir — are linked to the right to life enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution.
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A murder mystery that began with discovery of a charred skull in a remote forest area outside Hubli city in north Karnataka by a farmer on April 10, and the subsequent finding of charred limbs in another part of the city, has now ended with the arrest of a young model-turned-actress and her friend.
The murder mystery was cracked by Hubli-Dharwad police after DNA analysis of the body parts found in separate regions, study of CCTV footage on roads leading to the forest area, and analysis of cellphone tower information for the regions where the body parts were found, according to the police.
Investigation has found that the victim was Rakesh Katwe, 32, stepbrother of the accused actress Shanaya Katwe. The police have identified his alleged killers as Shanaya’s friend Niyaz Ahmed Katigar, 21, and the latter’s associates – Tausif Abdul Rehman, 21; Altaf Tajuddin, 24; and Aman Giraniwale, 19.
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The Karnataka government on Tuesday night in an order said revenue secretary and former BBMP chief N Manjunath Prasad will be deployed to BBMP for assisting present civic body chief Gaurav Gupta in dealing with Covid-19 in Bengaluru.
No rank has been assigned to him. Last year in July amidst the spike in the number of COVID-19 positive cases, the State government had transferred Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar and appointed Manjunath Prasad as commissioner.
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Karnataka's COVID-19 tally surpassed the 14 lakh mark while the active cases in the state crossed the three lakh figure with 31,830 fresh infections being reported on Tuesday, the Health department said. As many as 180 deaths took the toll to 14,807, it said. According to the health bulletin, Karnataka's cumulative COVID cases now stood at 14,00,775, while there are 3,01,899 active cases including 2,063 in ICUs. So far 10,84,050 people were discharged cumulatively including 10,793 in the state on Tuesday.
Of the three lakh active cases in the state, 2,06,223 are in Bengaluru Urban district alone. The city contributed more than 50 per cent of day's cases and mortalities with 17,550 fresh infections and 97 deaths on Tuesday. The city has so far reported 6,87,751 infections and 6,002 deaths.
Mysuru emerged as the second major COVID hotspot with 2,042 infections and nine deaths. The department said 1,196 infections were reported in Tumakuru, 907 in Ballari, 772 in Kalaburagi, 737 in Mandya, 736 in Raichur, 599 in Bengaluru Rural, 548 in Kolar, 544 in Chikkaballapura, 531 in Vijayapura and 503 in Hassan. Cases were also reported in Yadgir, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Koppal, Gadag, Davangere, Dharwad, Bidar, Bagalkote, Belagavi, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga and Dakshina Kannada.
Other than Bengaluru and Mysuru, 18 fatalities have been reported in Ballari, seven in Kalaburagi, six in Ramanagara, five each in Bidar, Dharwad and Hassan, four in Vijayapura, three each in Tumakuru, Haveri, Dakshina Kannada and Bengaluru Rural, two each in Chamarajanagar, Kolar, and Shivamogga.
There were 1,70,117 tests done on Tuesday including 1,51,631 using the RT-PCR and other methods taking the total tests done so far to 2.51 crore, the department added. Over 90 lakh people have been inoculated so far, it said. (PTI)
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