AK Hegde is uncultured and ignorant of Constitution: Siddaramaiah

Udupi, June 2: The number of positive cases may continue to be more in Udupi district since the results of more than 3,000 samples are pending with Labs.

The district total cases to 260. The figure had seemed far-fetched on May 15, when the number of cases stood at just three. The latest spike has been attributed to the return of migrants from other States as well as from abroad. These samples are from people who returned to the district in the last two weeks.

This delay is because the laboratories testing samples from Udupi are burdened with a high case-load after more than 8,500 people returned to the district, particularly from the neighbouring state of Maharashtra.

"Samples have piled up after the influx of people returning from other states and from abroad," says Dr Prashant Bhat, nodal officer for COVID-19 in Udupi. This delay has caused returnees in institutional quarantine to stay on for as long as 18 days.

The designated laboratory for coronavirus testing in Udupi is Wenlock District Hospital in Mangaluru. The district administration also sends samples to laboratories at the Kasturba Hospital in Manipal, Yenepoya Medical College, Mangaluru, KS Hegde Medical Academy, Mangaluru, and Viral Diagnostic Laboratory in Shivamogga. Apart from Udupi, the laboratory in Manipal is also testing samples from Uttara Kannada district. The laboratory in Shivamogga is also testing samples from Shivamogga and Bijapur districts. The laboratories in Mangaluru, similarly, have samples from Dakshina Kannada district.

Dr Avinash Shetty, Medical Superintendent of Kasturba Hospital in Manipal, one of the private laboratories being used by the Udupi district administration, said that they are testing samples in batches. "We received around 600 samples today and we will be testing them now. The backlog of samples should be cleared in the next few days," Dr Avinash said.

All 73 cases reported in Udupi on Monday were patients with travel history of returning from Maharashtra or patients with travel history of returning from abroad.

In cases of some patients who tested coronavirus positive in the past week, people were released from institutional quarantine after a stipulated period only to be tracked down again and admitted in hospitals after their results returned positive.

While two such cases emerged in Belapu and Belman in the district, the administration is now following up with others who were released from institutional quarantine to ensure they remain in home quarantine till their test results are confirmed.

The spike in cases among returning migrants in Udupi also comes at a time the Karnataka government reduced restrictions on interstate travel.

Mangaluru, Apr 12: A 10-month-old baby who tested COVID-19 positive on March 27 completed treatment and discharged from hospital on Saturday.

He was the youngest positive case in Karnataka, from Sajipanadu village in Bantwal taluk.

The child had been with his mother to a relative's house at Monetepadau village, situated on the Karnataka-Kerala border in the first week of March.

A few days later the child developed an acute respiratory illness and tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Treating the breastfeeding child was challenging for doctors as he had to be isolated. A team of doctors from Wenlock Hospital took up this challenge and successfully cured the baby.

Test reports on his mother and grandmother too have returned negative. They too had been under quarantine and were discharged with the baby.

Another positive development was that no COVID-19 case has been reported from the child's village.  

The entire Sajipanadu village was completely sealed after the child tested positive and the district had provided all the necessary supplies to the villagers.

Tumakuru, Jan 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday paid respects to the 'Gadduge' (final resting place) of Shivakumara Swamiji at Siddaganga Math, a prominent Lingayat seminary here, and said the Swamiji's work would continue to inspire everyone.

The Swamiji, who was known as the 'Walking God' among his countless followers, had passed away last year at the age of 111. The Prime Minister, who arrived at the Yelahanka Airbase in Bengaluru, went directly to Tumakuru, where the Math is located, by a chopper along with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and former Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda among others. Modi, after offering respects to the 'Gadduge', planted Bilva plant (Aegle marmelos) on the premises of the Math and also laid the foundation for the construction of a museum dedicated to Swamiji here before addressing the gathering, largely comprising students. Speaking on the occasion, Modi said he was feeling blessed to begin 2020 from the sacred land of Siddaganga, but at the same time was feeling the "vacuum" in the absence of Shivakumara Swamiji. "It is rare see the number of people swamiji had inspired during his life time. I'm really fortunate to lay the foundation for the museum in swamiji's memory. Through this museum, his works will continue to inspire generations," he said. Also, Prime Minister remembered Vishwesha Theertha of Udupi's Pejawar Math who passed away recently. Yediyurappa and the present pontiff of the Math Siddalinga Swamiji were among the others present. Known as "trivida dasohi" for his triple sacraments - food, shelter and education - among his followers, Shivakumara swamiji was considered as the incarnation of Basavanna, the 12th-century social reformer, as he accepted all irrespective of their religion or caste. There has been a growing clamour from people of different walks of life, including politicians, for conferring "Bharat Ratna" on the late Swamiji.

After the Swamiji's demise, the then Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had written to Modi urging him to confer the country's highest civilian order on the late seer.

Opposition Congress on Thursday questioned the Prime Minister about not conferring the"Bharat Ratna" on Shivakumara Swamiji.

Questioning Modi as to why he did not visit Tumakuru when Shivakumara Swamiji of Siddaganga Math passed away, the principal opposition party in the state assembly in a tweet also sought to know why the seer was not conferred with the Bharat Ratna yet, while pointing out that former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had written a letter in this regard in January 2018.

The present seer of the seminary Siddalinga Swamiji presented Modi a silver statue of Shivakumara Swamiji as a memento.