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Centre will extend full support to flood-hit Karnataka: Pralhad Joshi

Agencies
August 10, 2019

Bengaluru, Aug 10: The Central government on Friday assured flood-hit Karnataka of all possible help in mitigating the hardships of its people reeling under the devastation caused by heavy monsoon rains, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters.

"Of the Rs 200 crore the state government sought for relief management, the Centre has already released Rs 78 crore and the balance 128 crore will be released soon," Joshi said. 

A three-time MP from Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency, Joshi visited the flood-hit areas in the state's northwest districts of Belagavi, Bangalkot and Huballi-Dharwad and interacted with the affected people.

The state can also apply and avail an additional Rs 100 crore assistance from the Centre under the State Disaster Response Fund."There is no dearth of funds and resources to provide rescue and relief to the people of the state where 12 districts in coastal, central and northwest regions are affected by floods caused by heavy rains and gusty winds over a week," said Joshi.

The Central government will also release additional funds for rehabilitation of the people after the rains subside. 

The death toll in rain-related deaths increased to 15 from 9 in the state on Friday and 45,000 people have been shifted to relief camps and safer places from low-lying and submerged areas in the affected districts.

The Centre has also flown in four companies of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to the flood-hit districts of Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Uttar Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Shivamogga and Raichur.

"Rescue and relief operations are being scaled up in the affected districts in view of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting more heavy rains in the regions till August 11, an official told IANS in Bengaluru.

The decision to scale up the operations was taken in New Delhi earlier on Friday at a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), chaired by Union Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha. The meeting was called to review the flood situations in Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The Met Department has predicted more rains in the southern and western regions of the country over the next two days. 

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News Network
March 10,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 10: With concerns growing by the day, the Karnataka government is readying three more labs to test throat swab samples.

Currently, only two labs in Bengaluru — National Institute of Virology and Virus Research and Diagnostics Laboratory (VRDL) lab attached to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute — are categorised biosafety level 2+, a requirement for coronavirus tests.

Now, the government is working on upgrading three more labs, one each in the government medical colleges at Hassan, Mysuru and Shivamogga. “The labs will be ready within one week,” the authorities said.

Currently, the labs are testing only throat swab samples of suspected patients and taking 24 hours to give the results. “A patient’s blood sample will be collected only if he or she tests positive for covid-19 infection in the first throat swab sample.

While earlier the state would send all samples of suspected coronavirus cases to NIV, Pune, the two labs were upgraded to biosafety level 2+ in mid-February.

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News Network
April 2,2020

The current physical distancing guidelines provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may not be adequate to curb the coronavirus spread, according to a research which says the gas cloud from a cough or sneeze may help virus particles travel up to 8 metres. The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, noted that the the current guidelines issued by the WHO and CDC are based on outdated models from the 1930s of how gas clouds from a cough, sneeze, or exhalation spread.

Study author, MIT associate professor Lydia Bourouiba, warned that droplets of all sizes can travel 23 to 27 feet, or 7-8 metres, carrying the pathogen.

According to Bourouiba, the current guidelines are based on "arbitrary" assumptions of droplet size, "overly simplified", and "may limit the effectiveness of the proposed interventions" against the deadly pandemic.

 She explained that the old guidelines assume droplets to be one of two categories, small or large, taking short-range semi-ballistic trajectories when a person exhales, coughs, or sneezes.

However based on more recent discoveries, the MIT scientist said, sneezes and coughs are made of a puff cloud that carries ambient air, transporting within it clusters of droplets of a wide range of sizes.

Bourouiba warned that this puff cloud, with ambient air entrapped in it, can offer the droplets moisture and warmth that can prevent it from evaporation in the outer environment.

"The locally moist and warm atmosphere within the turbulent gas cloud allows the contained droplets to evade evaporation for much longer than occurs with isolated droplets," she said.

"Under these conditions, the lifetime of a droplet could be considerably extended by a factor of up to 1000, from a fraction of a second to minutes," the researcher explained in the study.

The MIT scientist, who has researched the dynamics of coughs and sneezes for years, added that these droplets settle along the trajectory of a cough or sneeze contaminating surfaces, with their residues staying suspended in the air for hours.

"Even when maximum containment policies were enforced, the rapid international spread of COVID-19 suggests that using arbitrary droplet size cutoffs may not accurately reflect what actually occurs with respiratory emissions, possibly contributing to the ineffectiveness of some procedures used to limit the spread of respiratory disease," Bourouiba wrote in the study

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News Network
August 7,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 7: Amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Karnataka, the state's health department issued fresh guidelines for the disposal of bodies of COVID patients.

"Although an increased risk of COVID infection from a dead body to health workers or family members who follow standard precautions while handling the body is unlikely, the lack of scientific data requires the utmost care to avoid the inadvertent spread of COVID-19 during these times," the statement from the health department's press release read, emphasising on the dignity of the dead and the religious and cultural tradition.

The 23-page press release elaborated on guidelines regarding testing, handling of dead bodies and other specificities in relation to the management of COVID-19 bodies.

"Testing should not be insisted in every case of death, but only when they have a recorded history of influenza-like symptoms. The body should be handed over to the family members/ relatives in a dignified manner immediately after swab collection and hospitals should provide handouts with a list of dos and don'ts in English and Kannada laying down relevant information," the statement said.

It added, "At the mortuary, health care workers, mortuary staff and the family of the deceased body shall not come in direct contact with the dead body and must wear full personal protective equipment (PPE). If the family or relative are for any reason unable to cremate or bury the body, the local health authority shall arrange for the dignified last rites as per the religious traditions of the family."

Regarding autopsies (post mortem) on COVID-19 bodies, the state department said that they should be avoided, except in necessary circumstances.

The statement also gave detailed guidelines regarding the appropriate recording of COVID-19 deaths in line with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines.

Additionally, the health department made a statement about the admission procedure for COVID positive patients referred by other district administrations saying, "It is now mandatory for all the referrals from the BBMP admission and discharge of COVID positive patients to be done through the online COVID Hospital Bed Management System (CHBMS)."

The state's count of coronavirus cases was 1,51,449 in the past 24 hours.

So far, a total of 2,804 people have died due to COVID-19 in the state, while the average recovery rate in Karnataka is 49.3 per cent.

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