Another blow to HDK govt as suspended Cong MLA Roshan Baig resigns

Bengaluru, June 19: Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa''s home-office in the city centre was shut for sanitisation after the husband of a woman employee working there tested COVID-19 positive, an official said on Friday.

"The chief minister''s home-office has been closed for sanitisation after the employee''s husband tested positive for coronavirus," an official of the Chief Minister''s Office told media persons here.

The employee did not report for duty for two days after her husband was infected with the virus.

"The chief minister''s engagements, including an official event involving the state police department were shifted to the Vidhana Soudha (state secretariat)," said the official.

As the employee was on outpost duty, she did not come in contact with the Chief Minister or his cabinet colleagues and other senior officials.

Earlier in the day, the divisional railway manager''s office in the city centre was shut for sanitisation after a visiting employee tested positive for coronavirus.

"The three-floor DRM office has been closed for the day for santisation and all employees have been advised to work from home as one of our staffer who visited the office early this week tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday," senior Divisional Commercial Manager Krishna Reddy told media persons here.

The DRM''s office is located adjacent to the Krantivira Sangoli Rayanna (KSR) main railway station in the city centre.

The state''s mini secretariat Vikas Soudha adjacent to the iconic Vidhana Soudha in the city centre has also been shut for sanitisation after a government employee working in it tested COVID positive.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), entrusted with the task of containing the virus spread, has already sanitised a portion of the massive building in the city centre.

After an employee of the food and civil supplies department tested positive, all offices on the ground floor of the mini-secretariat were sealed and sanitised.

The city registered 17 fresh cases on Thursday, taking the total number of positive cases to 844. With 14 discharged earlier in the day, 384 have been cured of the infection, while 408 are under treatment.

Of the 114 COVID deaths across the southern state since March 10, Bengaluru has accounted for 51 till date.

Udupi, May 4: Udupi Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha said that mechanised boat fishing will be permitted in Udupi district in another two days.

He further said that the decision was taken after the district was declared as a Green Zone as no fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported from the district in the past several days.

The Deputy Commissioner told the media here that fishing will be permitted but social distancing has to be practised and only 30 boats will be permitted in a day.

Bengaluru, May 29: The hotel industry is one of the worst-hit industries due to lockdown, along with the tourism industry. Bengaluru's hotel industry has incurred a loss of around Rs 1200 crore during the lockdown period however, the hotels here are likely to open in June if the State government issues guidelines for the resumption of their services.

Speaking to media, PC Rao, President, Bangalore Hotelier's Association said, "It's not only the loss of business, but we have lost the customer base as well. 
We don't expect any good future for the next six months. There will be a slow down in the business even after opening."

"We have requested our CM to give first preference to the hotels. We are going to restart our business in June if granted permission. Around 10 per cent of the hotels cannot open at all. They are in the stage of merging or closing down position. Few hotels may open after five or six months," he added.

He continued saying that many hotels are for sale but there are no buyers. There are around 21,000 restaurants in Bangalore, 3500 hotels with rooms and restaurant which has an average turnover of Rs 20 crores per day, Rao informed.

"We expect losses of around Rs 1200 crores in these two months. We are giving special online training to all the hoteliers and to our managers particularly to deal with the COVID-19 situation, including how to deal with the guests, employees, how to start the hotel services. 

Each and every manager has already been trained and we are still continuing it. We will conduct face to face meeting as well and brief the managers," said Rao.