Karnataka Covid wrap: Active caseload exceeds 5 lakh, 328 more deaths linked to pandemic

#Karnataka reports 49,058 new #Covid19 infections as Health Dept links 328 more deaths in the last few days to the pandemic.

Test positivity rate: 29.83%
Discharges: 18,943

(May 6, 2021) @IndianExpress

— Ralph Alex Arakal (@ralpharakal) May 6, 2021

Meanwhile, 18,943 people recovered from the infection on Sunday as another 21,425 people were inoculated.

Govt approves new Covid-19 pvt hospital package rates for govt-referred patients

The Karnataka government Thursday approved revised package rates to be charged by the private hospitals admitting Covid-19 patients based on referrals made by public health authorities.

As per an order issued by Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar, a patient getting treated in a general ward can be charged Rs 5,200 per day, while the same for a bed with HDU (high-dependency unit) is fixed at Rs 8,000 daily. The charges for an isolation ICU are fixed at Rs 9,750 per day without ventilator and Rs 11,500 daily with ventilator.

Karnataka govt appoints nodal authority to issue import duty exemption for relief materials

The Karnataka government Thursday issued an order appointing a nodal authority to issue authorisation certificate for exemption from import duty for relief material pertaining to COVID-19 containment and management. The authority comprises RDPR secretary Uma Mahadevan and Rural Development Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis.

According to an official statement, the Union government has given exemption from customs duty for importing free of cost essential relief material pertaining to COVID-19 containment and management from foreign countries. “Those who are interested to import essential relief material free of cost for COVID-19 have to obtain authorisation certificate for exemption from customs duty for such goods,” the order read.

Officials added that applications may be submitted in prescribed format to importnodal.kar@gmail.com via e-mail.

Shocked by Centre’s decision to approach SC in allocating oxygen to Karnataka: Siddaramaiah

Congress legislative party leader Siddaramaiah said that he was “shocked” to know that the BJP-led central govt had approached the Supreme Court against Karnataka High Court’s direction to allocate 1200 MT of liquid oxygen to Karnataka.

Siddaramaiah wondered: “Will CM Yediyurappa and BJP’s Karnataka leadership ever fight against this decision? Karnataka needs more than 1600-1700 MT of oxygen but Central government has allocated just 675 MT of oxygen which is less than 60 per cent of the demand.”

He added, “Is PM Modi blind to Karnataka’s need?” Further criticising the elected Lok Sabha MPs from the state, he noted, “Karnataka has elected 25 BJP MPs to the Lok Sabha. Where are they hiding? Have they lost their spine to stand up against Modi? They are unfit to represent Karnataka and a blot to mankind.”

Bengaluru school sets up 120-bed oxygen facility on campus

In a bid to overcome the shortage of medical oxygen for Covid-19 patients in the Karnataka capital, Canadian International School Bangalore (CISB) Thursday announced that it will covert the school’s boarding block into a 120-bed oxygen center. The facility is expected to cater to patients who are not in need of critical medical care but are in dire need of oxygen.

According to CISB authorities, the facility will be operated in association with the Entrepreneur’s Organisation (EO) Bengaluru chapter. EO is a network of over 14,000 like-minded entrepreneurs in more than 60 countries.

CISB officials added that the school intends to equip around 50 beds in the “shortest possible time” to meet the current demand in the initial phase of the project. “In the second phase, the plan is to support the costs needed to scale up this infrastructure to 120 beds. The cost of each oxygen bed with consumables would be around Rs 1 lakh and the EO therefore plans to mobilize Rs 1 crore for the oxygen beds at CISB,” a statement read.

It added that the school and EO were working with various organizations to source five-litre oxygen concentrators for each bed.

Karnataka to use services of 1 lakh medical, nursing students to combat Covid second wave

In a bid to address the shortage of medical professionals in the state to combat the ongoing second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the Karnataka government has decided to rope in nearly a lakh students pursuing medical, paramedical, and nursing courses in the state for Covid duties.

According to Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwathnarayan, who also heads the ministerial taskforce, the students will also be provided with incentives for their service.

“As many as 17,797 medical students including interns, PG, final year students will be deployed in Covid duties across the state as part of their final postings. While the nursing department has 45,470 students, services of students pursuing dental (2,538), Ayush (9,654), and pharmacy (9,936) courses will also be sought. We nearly have 40,000 students in related streams as well,” he highlighted.

Covid bed-blocking scam: AAP demands arrest of BJP MLA

A couple of days after BJP leaders in Bengaluru alleged “widespread corruption” in allocating Covid beds in the city, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) filed a police complaint demanding the arrest of Bommanahalli BJP MLA Satish Reddy.

Further, the party urged Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant to arrest people, including leaders from the ruling party, if their links were found in the alleged scam. “We demand an immediate arrest of persons involved including Bommanahalli MLA Satish Reddy whose involvement has been exposed by BBMP officials, media and other sources. I have filed a complaint in Bommanahalli Police Station,” AAP Karnataka Convenor Prithvi Reddy wrote.

He explained, “It has been widely reported in the press and social media that the kingpin of this scam is MLA from Bommanahalli, Mr Satish Reddy. I have attached a copy of Vijay Karnataka (local Kannada daily) with this complaint which details out the scam of Satish Reddy and his followers who have been blocking beds. It has been reported that over the last 4 days, such bed-blocking has resulted in the death of 17 people.”