Saudi Defense minister Mohammed bin Salman supports women driving

Bengaluru, Jul 9: Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Wednesday said the private hospitals in the state have joined hands with the state government in the fight against COVID-19 and will provide 3,500 beds for patients.

"The meeting with managements of private hospitals has been successful and they have agreed to provide 3,500 beds for COVID-19 treatment," he said while addressing a press conference.

Pointing out that the step would help in providing more beds for COVID-19 patients, he added, "The state government is thankful to the private sector for joining hands with the government in this fight against the pandemic. Apart from beds, private hospitals will also run COVID-19 care centres in collaboration with hotels to treat asymptomatic and people with mild symptoms. Together with beds and COVID-19 care centres, private hospitals will add 6,000 to 7,000 beds in coming days," he said while addressing a press conference.

The minister while clarifying on JJM Medical College stipend issue said he had a number of meetings with the college as also the CM. "Held several meetings with the college management in this regard. I also discussed the same with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. He already asked the college management to release the stipend of Resident Doctors and PG Medicos immediately. Now it is up to the college management to act.

Urging the residents of the state to fight the pandemic with honesty, the minister said, "We should be honest about the virus and get tested ourselves without hiding it. Wearing masks, social distancing and following government guidelines are the weapon against COVID-19, which would help us to win this war."

Bengaluru, Feb 20: German software group SAP said on Thursday that it had temporarily shut down its offices across India for sanitisation after two employees in its Bengaluru Ecoworld office tested positive for H1N1 virus.

"Two SAP India employees based in Bangalore (RMZ Ecoworld office) have tested positive for the H1N1 virus. Detailed contact tracing that the infected colleagues may have come into contact with is underway," SAP India said in an emailed statement.

The company said its offices across Bengaluru, Gurugram and Mumbai have been closed for extensive sanitisation. All employees based in these locations have been asked to work from home till further notice

SAP India also advised its employees to seek medical advice if they or their family members have any symptoms of cold, cough with fever.

H1N1 or swine flu can spread through air. Its symptoms are cough, fever, sore throat, running nose, body ache, headache, chills and fatigue.

Mysuru, Jul 9: The renowned Mysore Palace has been closed on Thursday after a relative of an employee at the palace was tested COVID-19 positive, an official said.

The palace has been closed for the visitors in the view of rising COVID-19 cases. Authorities have decided to re-open the palace on Monday.

Earlier the Palace was closed for tourists for a week from March 15 to 22, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Mysore Palace committee said.

According to the Union Health Ministry, Karnataka has reported 28,877 COVID-19 positive cases including 16,531 active, 11,876 cured/discharged/migrated while 470 succumbed to the virus.