4 young RSS workers arrested for murder of CPM activist

Bengaluru, Mar 19: To better enforce social distancing and prevent further spread of Covid-19, the Karnataka health and family welfare department on Wednesday said it will "stamp the back of the palm" of international passengers advised to be on home quarantine, along with the date they are allowed to get out of home. The stamping process began at 12am Thursday.

Pankaj Kumar Pandey, commissioner, health and family welfare, said: "It is noted that a few passengers under home quarantine are not following the instructions. Therefore, it has been decided to stamp the back of the palm of their left hand with a specially designed stamp which will indicate the last day of quarantine."

He said the special stamp will use an indelible ink and "airports in Karnataka have been instructed to follow this without fail". On average, about 3,000 people are arriving in Bengaluru on international flights every day.

The department said social distancing is the only known method of combating the spread of Covid-19 and added, "International passengers are segregated as symptomatic and asymptomatic."

High-risk flyers kept at mass quarantine unit

The symptomatic passengers (Group-A) are taken to designated hospitals; asymptomatic ones, depending on the port of origin, are taken to the quarantine centre or permitted to go on home quarantine.

At the mass quarantine centre, the asymptomatic passengers are divided into moderate-risk (Group-B) and high-risk (Group-C) categories.

“The high-risk passengers are kept at a mass quarantine centre for medical observation. The moderate-risk passengers are being sent for home quarantine where they need to spend 14 days,” the statement added.

Pandey said: “International passengers changing flights within the country cannot be stopped. Ideally, they should be stamped at the first port of entry when they arrive from a foreign country which is not happening.” He said this issue will be brought to the notice of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation.

Mangaluru, Apr 25: Heavy rain lashed Mangaluru and surrounding areas on Saturday, providing the people respite from the sweltering heat, which they have been experiencing for the last few weeks. 

The rain, which started around 10.30 pm on Friday, lashed heavily after 2 am. Later, there was drizzle for sometime before it stopped raining around 8 am. 

People were seen walking towards the market to purchase essential commodities holding an umbrella and wearing a raincoat.

Bengaluru, May 31: The coronavirus related fatalities in Karnataka rose to 49 with the death of a 47-year-old woman while 141 new coronavirus cases were confirmed on Saturday taking the infection tally to 2,922, Karnataka minister S Suresh Kumar said.

Among the fresh cases, 90 are inter-state passengers, he told reporters.

The deceased woman from Bidar was admitted on May 24 and died on May 28 at a designated hospital in Bidar, Kumar, minister for primary and secondary education and spokesperson for Covid-19 in the state, said.

The woman was diagnosed with influenza like illness with a history of paralysis and was bed-ridden besides having hypertension and convulsions, Kumar said.

According to him, the total cases include 997 discharges, 1,874 active cases, 49 Covid-19 deaths and two non-Covid related deaths.

Of the total active cases, 15 are in the ICU, he added.

The new cases comprise 33 in Bengaluru, 18 in Yadagir, 14 in Dakshina Kannada, 13 each in Udupi and Hassan, 11 in Vijayapura, 10 in Bidar, six in Shivamogga, four each in Davangere and Haveri, three in Kolar, two each in Kalaburagi, Mysuru, Uttara Kannada, Dharwad, and one each in Belagavi, Chitradurga, Tumakuru and Bengaluru Rural, the health department said in its bulletin.

The minister said the government has issued an order regarding relaxation of curfew on Sundays.

According to the order issued by Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar, there will not be any curfew on Sundays throughout the day following requests from people.

As per the previous order, curfew was from 7 am to 7 pm on Sundays.