Second hovercraft glides into Mangalore

Bengaluru, Jul 9: Bringing to the fore the dangers frontline workers face in combating the deadly coronavirus, 395 policemen have tested positive for the infection since the outbreak of the pandemic in Bengaluru. This includes five deaths, Inspector General of Police and Additional Commissioner of Police (Administration) Hemant Nimbalkar told media persons.

He said as of Thursday, 190 have been cured while 200 are under treatment. Twenty police stations have been sealed, he added.

He claimed the Bengaluru police has suffered the most compared to any department, organisation or institution because the force is deployed in the field and dealing with the situation.

The infection among police is highest despite training being given to them on how to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

According to him, every morning duty charter is given to the police personnel where they are told how to avoid getting the infection and handle the situation if they find symptoms of coronavirus.

"Despite taking all the precautions, infection in our department is high because we are the ones who are on the road.

We are meeting hundreds of people whom we don't know, whether they are Covid infected or not," Nimbalkar said.

Along with the policemen, their families too are at risk of contracting the virus.

An assistant sub-inspector at VV Puram police station was the first casualty in the Bengaluru police on June 13.

A heart patient, who was on leave due to ill health, he collapsed at home and died.

Kasaragod, Apr 10: The death of five cats in the general hospital-turned-Covid-19 isolation centre here recently has evoked a little bit of scare among the health authorities who are eagerly awaiting the viscera test results of the dead animals.

The death of the cats has evoked anxiety in the backdrop of a tiger in a zoo in United States tested positive for Covid-19 recently.

It was recently that the hospital authorities had noticed the death of the cats, which include two male and a female adult and two kittens, were long been seen in and around the hospital compound.

Bengaluru, July 25: A 105-year-old person from Bengaluru’s Basaveshwar Nagar, who was under treatment for covid-19 at a hospital for past five days, breathed his last today. He was a former government account who retired in 1973. He was the oldest known covid-19 patient in the state so far.

Many members of the patient's family are said to be infected and are hospitalised at various facilities. The funeral will be overseen by two uninfected family members.

The patient 74411 died on Saturday morning at around 9 a.m., said Dr Prasanna, Managing Director of Pristine Hospital And Research Centre where the former was admitted.

“The patient was initially doing well when he admitted on July 20. He did not have significant lung changes when he was admitted. However, after three days, his blood pressure started to drop so he was put on oxygen in the ICU. Yesterday morning, with continued deterioration, he was placed on non-invasive ventilator support,” Dr Prasanna said.

“Finally, by last night, his oxygen saturation levels began to plummet abruptly and we had to intubate him for ventilator support. His condition continued to deteriorate, however. The cause of death was respiratory failure and the onset of sepsis,” he added.

Although earmarked for supplies of Remdesivir by the government, the hospital did not receive the drugs. An appeal to Dr K Sudhakar, Minister of Medical Education by the hospital staff resulted in an assurance that the medication would arrive. “However, in the end, we had to source the medication ourselves on Friday,” medical staff said.

Dr Thrilok Chandra, Head, Critical Care Support Unit (CCSU), which oversees the care of critical or vulnerable-aged Covid-19 patients, had said that Patient 74411 had been diagnosed early. “He was identified when the disease was still in the early stages in his body. He only had symptoms of Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), so the symptoms were not severe,” Dr Chandra had said.

“It’s very sad. We were rooting for him to pull through. He had no comorbidities at all. He had been bed-ridden from last year, but he was healthy. His only potential comorbidity was his advanced age,” Dr Prasanna said.

According to government data, 34% of Covid-19 fatalities in India are aged between 60 and 74 years of age. Fourteen per cent are aged above 74.