Lecturer, Dubai beautician among the new faces in Dakshina Kannada ZP

Bengaluru, Mar 6: The Karnataka government has directed school authorities to grant leave to students and staff suffering from cold or fever in the light of renewed coronavirus (COVID -19) fears.

"If any student, teacher of staff is suffering from respiratory infections, they should be granted leave. They should be allowed to come back to school only after confirming from the doctor that they are cured. In case of a student or staff staying at hostels developing any symptoms, they should be kept in a separate room," said the government circular.

Aiming at containing the spread of coronavirus, Sriramulu said, "We have formed 1,680 isolation wards in private hospitals. Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister of the situation."

However, the Health Minister said no positive case has been recorded till now in the state.

"Tests are also being conducting on passengers arriving in Karnataka and all precautionary measures are being taken," said Sriramulu about the 40,000 people thermal screened at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in the city. Major private hospitals in the city have geared up to treat suspected cases.

Five Karnataka districts bordering Kerala -- Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Udupi, Chamarajanagar and Mysuru -- continue to be under surveillance after three positive coronavirus cases were reported in Kerala

The deadly virus has killed a total of 2,912 people in mainland China till Saturday, bringing the global death toll to more than 3,000, authorities said on Monday.

The Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Department is observing 461 people under home quarantine even as no positive coronavirus case has been reported from the state, an official said on Thursday.

"We are observing 461 people for Coronavirus symptoms at their residences, however, no positive case has emerged from Karnataka," said state Health Department's Joint Director, Communicable Diseases, Prakash Kumar.

The five people under isolated observation at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases continue to be so on Thursday as well. As many as 273 samples sent from the state for coronavirus testing reported negative.

In Karnataka, 68,717 passengers have been thermal-screened for the virus until now at Kempegowda International Airport in the city and Mangluru International Airport.

Another 5,103 passengers were also checked for the virus at Karwar and Mangluru seaports.

On Thursday, 16 people completed the mandatory 28-day observation period while a total of 225 people also underwent the same.

Karnataka is screening all international passengers and the state health department met the private sector hospitals to take stock of recent developments.

Bengaluru, Jun 18: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominated Prathap Simha Nayak, M.T.B. Nagaraj, R. Shankar and Sunil Valyapure to contest in the June 29 biennial elections for 4 of the 7 Karnataka legislative Council seats, an official said.

"Our high command selected 3 of the 4 candidates the state core committee recommended on Tuesday, excluding H.R. Vishwanath, a former Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) rebel, who lost in the December 5 Assembly by-elections from Hunsur in Mysuru district on a BJP ticket," a party official said.

Nagaraj, a former Congress rebel, who also lost in the Assembly by-election from Hoskote in Bengaluru Rural district on a BJP ticket, was the state housing minister in the 14-month-old JD-S-Congress coalition government, which fell on July 23, 2019 after 17 of their rebels resigned then.

Shankar, who was an Independent and a minister in the former coalition government, was not given the BJP ticket to contest in the December Assembly bypolls though he too resigned from the Ranebennur assembly seat in Haveri district, about 340km northwest of Bengaluru, along with former Congress and JD-S rebels.

Valyapure is the party's grass-root leader from Chincholi in Gulbarga district in the state's northern region, about 586km from Bengaluru.

Valyapure extensively campaigned in the May 2019 general elections and ensured the victory of BJP candidate Umesh Yadav from the reserved Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat, defeating Congress senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

Nayak is also the party's grassroot cadre who rose from the ranks to become its Dakshina Kannada district president in the state's coastal region.

As the ruling party has 116 legislators in the 225-member Assembly, all its 4 candidates will need 28 votes each to win the contest.

Of the 7 outgoing Council members, 5 are from the Congress and one each from the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and an Independent.

With 68 lawmakers, the Congress will be able to retain 2 seats and the JD-S one as it has only 34 legislators in the lower house.

The Congress has nominated its outgoing Rajya Sabha member B.K. Hariprasad and outgoing Council member Naseer Ahmed to contest for 2 Council seats.

Of the 75-member Council, the opposition Congress has 37, BJP 19, JD-S 16, two Independents and one Chairman.

Bhatkal, Mar 30: Uttara Kannada district administration has decided to shift all those Bhatkal residents who have returned from abroad after March 15 to quarantine facilities in Bhatkal town to avoid further family contacts, Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada K Harish Kumar said on Monday.

“All primary contacts identified are already in government quarantine facilities,” he said in a communique.

All people must cooperate to maintain social distancing to avoid further spread of COVID-19, he added.