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Bengaluru, May 1: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday announced Rs 30 lakhs compensation for corona warriors, in case they lose lives while carrying out their duties.

"Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has announced Rs 30 lakhs compensation for Anganwadi workers & assistants, civil workers, and police personnel who die after getting infected by COVID-19 while carrying out their duties," State Chief Minister's Office said in a statement.

According to Union Health Ministry website, a total of 557 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the state so far including 223 cured and 21 deaths.

Meanwhile, With 1,823 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the last 24 hours and 67 deaths, India's total count of coronavirus cases has gone up to 33,610, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

Mangaluru, May 23: Criticising the Karnataka government's fresh protocol for management of Covid-19 as expensive, a prominent physician in the city has demanded its withdrawal.

According to Dr B Srinivas Kakkilaya, the protocol released by the Health and Family Welfare Department on May 15 enlists unnecessary and unconfirmed tests and treatments. 

The protocol has classified Covid-19 cases into three categories and has provided for hospitalisation of all three categories of patients, from asymptomatic to the most severely ill.

In a letter to the government, Dr Kakkilaya said: "The protocol suggests several investigations to be done right on the day of admission, including blood counts, liver and renal function tests, chest X Ray, ECG, CT scan of the chest, and other special investigations, all of which, if done, will cost Rs 25,000 per patient."

"In the coming days when lakhs of patients are likely to be infected with SARS CoV2, is it necessary and feasible to hospitalise and test all these patients at Rs 25,000 per person," he questioned.

The treatment options suggested in the protocol are also surprising, he pointed out. "The protocol recommends choloroquine, azithromycin, oseltamivir, zinc and vitamin C for all patients, from asymptomatic to the severely ill, and also anti coagulant injections for many patients. All these would cost at least Rs 5,000 per patient. For severe cases of Covid-19, many unproven and experimental treatments have been suggested, which are very expensive and highly questionable," Dr Kakkilaya notes.

Therefore, this protocol, he asserted was not evidence based and likely to do more harm than good. He said these unnecessarily expensive tests and allowing private companies to conduct trials on Covid-19 patients is likely to be misused by vested interests and must be immediately withdrawn, and instead, a protocol that is evidence-based, simple and avoiding unnecessary expenses, must be developed.