Israel-bound passenger arrested at Mangaluru Airport with 2 live bullets

Bengaluru, Apr 4: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday asked Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar to be the government's spokesperson on the Novel Coronavirus crisis management effort, a move that is being seen as keeping too many cooks from spoiling the broth.

At a high-level meeting to review measures on COVID-19 containment, Mr Yediyurappa is said to have taken exception to his Cabinet colleagues making multiple, and often contradictory statements, leading to confusion.

''The CM has directed Mr Kumar to be the only one to brief the media on COVID-19,'' a source from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) confirmed.

Bengaluru, Mar 24: Underlining the seriousness of the coronavirus, which is spreading like wildfire in Karnataka, renowned Heart Surgeon and founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya Dr Devi Shetty on Tuesday predicted that Karnataka alone will have more than 80,000 people affected with the dreaded killer disease COVID-19 if people fail to protect themselves.

He urged the people to cooperate with the Government in preventing its further spread and immediately treat those who are affected.

Dr Shetty, urging the people to remain indoors and not to venture out, said those who are affected should not come out and remain in isolation even in their houses and take all precautions advised by doctors.

He said if 80,000 people in the state were affected, more than 20,000 need to be admitted to Hospital for treatment.

"More than 2000 affected need to be kept under ventilation and it requires more infrastructure in the hospitals," he said.