Another stabbing at B C Road sparks fresh tension in Bantwal taluk

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.

Bengaluru, May 26: The Karnataka government has decided cancel summer vacation for undergraduate and post-graduate students and universities during the 2020-21 academic year in the wake of severe academic loss due to COVID-19 lockdown.

Keeping in mind the loss of academic days due to the lockdown to contain the pandemic, the Higher Education Department has decided to go in for ‘Zero Vacation’. 

The state government decided to cancel all holidays particularly the summer holidays after holding a series of meetings with the Vice Chancellors and other academicians from various parts of the state.

The decision was also communicated during the review meeting of the Higher Education Department held by CM Yediyurappa on Tuesday in Bengaluru.

Hubli, Mar 15: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday said that his government has asked Centre to help in setting up of labs in view of the coronavirus cases.

Speaking to reporters after reviewing the situation in the state on coronavirus, Yediyurappa said, "No new cases were reported on Saturday and Sunday. The cases reported are of people who came from abroad. Government has made all preparation to fight against this. We have asked the central government to help in setting up labs wherever required, shortly we will do it."

"We have taken a lot of precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus. For the first time shutdown has been declared for a week. People are also cooperating with us, we will take a further decision after one week," he added.

Karnataka government has said that as of now six cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the state, including one person who died.

"Till date six COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state including one death. The 5 Coronavirus positive cases are in isolation at the designated hospital in Bengaluru," the Karnataka government said on Sunday.