Ullal Muslims plunge into confusion as local Khazi snubs Bhatkal moon

Bengaluru, Mar 5: The Karnataka government has advised city-based companies to allow their employees to work from home if they have flu-like symptoms.

"Those employees having flu like symptoms may be allowed to work from home with advice of standard hand hygiene and cough etiquette," the Health Department said in its advisory.

The advisory asked people to avoid non-essential travel to COVID-19 affected countries and refrain from travel to China, Iran, Republic of Korea, Italy and Japan.

"Employees other than those restricted countries arriving directly or indirectly from China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Hong Kong, Maccau, Veitnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, the UAE and Qatar must undergo medical screening at airport entry," the advisory read.

The government advisory also mandated employees arriving through all international flights entering lndia from any port to furnish duly filled self-declaration form, including personal particulars - phone numbers and address in India, and travel history to health officials and immigration officials.

It also appealed to promote regular and thorough hand washing at work places and keeping sanitising hand rub dispensers (alcohol-based) in prominent places and provide access to places where staff can wash their hands with soap and water.

Companies have been asked to promote good respiratory hygiene and ensure the availability of surgical masks and paper tissues at workplaces only for those who develop a running nose or cough at work along with closed bins for their hygienic disposal.

Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner B H Anil Kumar chaired a meeting on Wednesday regarding the preparedness to deal with coronavirus.

Bengaluru, Apr 13: Eminent scientist and NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat said on Monday the number of COVID- 19 cases is not going to go beyond what's being reported daily in India as he maintained that the country is in the process of flattening the curve.

The former Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister said the coronavirus positive cases have seen a sharper rise in the last four-five days because of increase in the number of testing.

"It's a good sign; all those asymptomatic cases lying hidden they are also coming out," Saraswat told PTI. "We certainly had a catalytic factor which was basically this (Nizamuddin) Markaz problem which has actually created clusters at different places and that has also been one of the factors for the kind of rise that has taken place."

But he said India is in a much better shape compared to other nations in the battle against COVID-19. "I can only say that the rate is not going to go beyond what has been going on now, may be 700 to 800 cases per day. So, we are in the process of flattening the curve."

The government's decision to declare nation-wide lockdown has paid dividends, Saraswat, a former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, said.

Noting that India has seen a series of virus attacks in the last 15-20 years including Chikungunya and Dengue, he said the emphasis now should be on more and more R & D to find vaccines in advance.

Bengaluru, Apr 5: Opening of Karnataka's borders to Kerala at this point in time will be like "embracing death," chief minister B S Yediyurappa said on Saturday making clear his government's stand not opening the state border.

The chief minister repeatedly said that for his government interest of the people of the state was supreme.

Yediyurappa made his stand clear in a letter to former prime minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda.

Gowda had recently written to the chief minister on March 31 seeking relaxation of the border restrictions on "humanitarian" grounds.

He had also written to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressing his anguish against Karnataka authorities for imposing restriction and promising to raise the matter with prime minister Narendra Modi.

Stating the decision to close the border was not sudden, Yediyurappa said, it was a conscious decision after analysing the health situation in the area following the spread of COVID-19.

The chief minister cited the Indian Medical Association, Mangaluru branch data regarding the spread of Covid-19 in Kasargod of Kerala and surrounding areas which was alarming.

Noting that the region has nearly 106 positive coronaviruscases, he said, "this is the region with most number of infections in the country."

If this restriction is removed, it puts the health of the people of Karnataka in to risk and create a situation of "embracing death", so we will not be able to open the border, Yediyurappa said.

He also clarified that there was no prejudice behind his government's decision, and the interest of the people of the state was of utmost importance.

"...There is also no political maliciousness. We want to have good and brotherly relationship with neighbouring states," he said, adding that opening the border will open a pandora's box that will be disastrous for the state.

Yediyurappa also thanked opposition parties for their support to his government in its fight against COVID-19.