3 youths held for kidnapping, trafficking 2-month-old baby

Mangaluru, Feb 5: The New Mangalore Port implemented the Centre's Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by screening the crew of cargo ships and passengers of Cruise Vessel for the highly contagious and deadly disease Coronavirus.

Sources in the port said that screening was being carried out at the harbour since the past few days, as a precautionary measure. All the 1,800 passengers and 786 crew of Cruise Vessel 'Costa Victoria,' which stopped at the port, were screened.

Arrangements were also made for screening foreign nationals arriving at the Mangalore International Airport (MIA). 

Besides screening, passengers were also made aware of the Coronavirus and the precautionary steps to be taken.

The United States of America has bought almost the entire world's supply of remdesivir, one of just two drugs proven to treat COVID-19. 

“President Trump has struck an amazing deal to ensure Americans have access to the first authorised therapeutic for Covid-19,” said the US health and human services secretary, Alex Azar. 

“To the extent possible, we want to ensure that any American patient who needs remdesivir can get it. The Trump administration is doing everything in our power to learn more about life-saving therapeutics for Covid-19 and secure access to these options for the American people.”

The announcement implies that no other country in the world will be able to buy remdesivir for next three months at least.

The anti-viral drug patented by the US-based Gilead biotech firm is the only one approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to treat patients with the novel coronavirus.

The Trump administration has already shown that it is prepared to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the medical supplies it needs for the US.

“They’ve got access to most of the drug supply [of remdesivir], so there’s nothing for Europe,” said Dr Andrew Hill, senior visiting research fellow at Liverpool University.

Remdesivir, the first drug approved by licensing authorities in the US to treat Covid-19, is made by Gilead and has been shown to help people recover faster from the disease. 

The first 140,000 doses, supplied to drug trials around the world, have been used up. The Trump administration has now bought more than 500,000 doses, which is all of Gilead’s production for July and 90% of August and September.

Bengaluru, May 20: Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) had to confront an unprecedented situation as there was a commotion at bus stands in various parts of the state due to the mad rush of passengers.

Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who is in charge of the transport department, admitted that there were some shortcomings in the arrangements. He, however, was confident that things would improve from Wednesday.

As against the dearth of passengers in the bus stands in Bengaluru a day ago, Wednesday witnessed an overwhelming crowd blaming BMTC authorities for not providing enough buses for all the destinations on time.

Some of the employees who were asked to report to duty before certain time were facing difficulty in reaching the office in the absence of bus despite having daily pass and arriving at the stand well in advance.

Authorities were finding it difficult to convince the public as a bus could ferry only 35 passengers at a time which was way less than the demand.