I'm not footwear to be used and thrown: Ambareesh

Bengaluru, May 6: More than a month after international flights have been barred, Karnataka government is preparing to quarantine all 10,823 of the state''s people poised to return home from overseas amid the Covid pandemic, an official said on Tuesday.

"The state has planned to quarantine all 10,823 passengers coming back to Karnataka. The quarantine guidelines framed as below would be applicable," said Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey in a statement.

According to the Government of India, 10,823 Karnataka residents have been stranded abroad by April 30, comprising 4,408 tourists, 3,074 students, 2,784 migrants and professionals and 557 ship crew.

Out of the 10,823 people, the state government is expecting 6,100 to return early as the government has decided to allow Indians stuck abroad to return.

"All the passengers arriving at points of entry (airports and seaports) will be compulsorily screened for symptoms of Covid-19," said Pandey.

Point of entry screening will include self-reporting form verification, thermal screening, pulse oximeter reading, briefing with instructions, categorisation, stamping for some and downloading of Aarogya Setu, Quarantine Watch and Apthamitra apps.

Arriving passengers are also required to declare existing comorbidities such hypertension, diabetes, asthma or any lung disease, organ transplantations, cancer, tuberculosis and other ailments.

Passengers will be categorised into three groups: Category A (symptomatic on arrival), Category B (asymptomatic with co-morbidity or aged above 60 years) and Category C (rest of asymptomatic passengers).

Depending on the category into which the people fall, their quarantine place and time will be determined.

Category A arrivals will be subjected to institutional quarantine for a fortnight, Category B one week quarantine at a hotel or hostel, followed by another week at home, and Category C home quarantine for a fortnight.

Karnataka government is making elaborate arrangements and logistical means, deploying healthcare, police and several other departments into action to handle the huge influx of Kannadigas and state residents.

Pandey has issued a 21-page elaborate standard operating procedure (SOP) guidelines on how to face the international returnees.

Mangaluru, June 21: A gang of miscreants intercepted a goods auto-rickshaw which was legally transporting beef from an abattoir to market and attacked its driver in heart of the city this morning. 

The attack comes exactly a week after a gang of Bajrang Dal miscreants thrashed a cattle trader at Urwa while legally transporting four buffalos to Kudroli abattoir on June 13.

Today, a person identified as Abdul Rasheed was transporting around 200 kilograms of beef from Kudroli abattoir to Kankanady market.

Meanwhile, miscreants began to chase beef laden vehicle and managed to waylay it near Highland Hospital. They thrashed Abdul Rasheed and poured kerosene on the beef besides damaging the vehicle. 

The miscreants fled in their car and motorbikes after passersby began to gather. 

Bengaluru, May 27: A yet incomplete state-wide survey has revealed that there are over 53.99 lakh households vulnerable to the infection in Karnataka. The survey is being conducted by the government to find COVID-19 vulnerable population particularly with comorbidities and cases like SARI and ILI.

The survey, which is 67.16% complete so far, finds 1.37 lakh households across Karnataka have people with comorbid conditions, excluding a further 13,341 households with symptoms of Influenza Like Illness (ILI), Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and Covid-19.

Over 48 lakh households have senior citizens, who on account of their age are at highest risk of death from the disease.

Munish Moudgil, Director of the State COVID War Room, clarified that households could have multiple types of vulnerable people. According to the survey data (which is dated May 26), Kalaburagi and Bengaluru Urban have the highest cases of SARI, ILI with 1,902 households and 1,703 households respectively, although these numbers are likely to rise, as the survey is still incomplete in these districts. 

A BBMP source said that 68% of the survey has been completed in the city, but the data has not been logged yet. The number of SARI/ILI cases is next highest in Shivamogga with 1,217 households, Mysuru with 1,200 and Davangere with 1,178.

The government regards SARI and ILI as indicators of coronavirus and on April 17, had passed an order instructing healthcare workers to test people with these conditions for the coronavirus. Consequently, 51 COVID-19 cases were discovered by testing people with these symptoms.

Belagavi, meantime, has reported the highest incidents of households with comorbid conditions with 12,427 identified so far, followed by Mandya with 9,289, Kalaburagi with 8,311, Shivamogga with 8,140 and Bengaluru Urban with 7,562. Importantly, 3,45,443 vulnerable people have been identified in Bengaluru Urban within 28.26% of data logged in so far.