Entire coastal Karnataka to be declared open defecation-free on Oct 2

Chithradurga, Mar 25: COVID-19-positive cases in Karnataka jumped to 42 from 33 on Tuesday, with nine cases added to the list overnight. The daughter of G M Siddeshwara, Davanagere MP, is the latest case.

Sources from the Siddeshwara family said that the MP’s daughter, along with her two children, who started from Guyana, first landed at New York airport and from there, she took a flight to New Delhi.

From Delhi, she flew to Bengaluru. And then, she and her children travelled with her father in a chaffeur-driven car on March 21 to their house in Bheemasamudra.


Siddeshwara said that protocol for COVID-19 had been followed and all who returned were under self-quarantine at his house. However, the administration was not informed of her travel history till the samples were given for test, Chitradurga Deputy Commissioner Vinoth Priya R told TNIE. The DC said the test results of the MP’s daughter were collected by district health authorities and sent to Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences on March 22.

The test turned out to be positive for COVID-19 and she was shifted to the isolation ward at Chigateri district hospital in Davanagere. This is the first positive case in Chitradurga.The patient, who is the wife of an Indian Diplomat in Guyana, complained of flu-like symptoms and remained self-quarantined at her house at Bheemasamudra. Her condition was informed to the health department, which collected her samples and forwarded it to the SIMS for tests, results of which arrived on Tuesday evening.

The DC said that samples of family members including the two children, and those working at the MP’s house would be collected and sent for testing to ensure proper protocol is followed. The administration has declared a ‘red zone of a 5km radius around Siddeshwara’s house at Bheemasamudra. DHO Dr Palaksha said that the patient is not suffering any serious problems and is normal. However, we have put her in the isolation ward of Chigateri District Hospital in Davangere, he said.

Bengaluru, Jul 5: A 50-year-old woman with breathing difficulties died on Saturday after a shortage of beds forced 12 hospitals to refuse admission.

Her husband Babu said the family had approached 12 hospitals in three days, including Victoria Hospital and other private facilities, who all slammed their doors on them, citing a shortage of beds. The woman died on Saturday, a few minutes into her admission at KC General Hospital.

Second death 

A 35-year-old man, Manjunath, also died on Saturday after enduring fever for three days and being refused admission at several hospitals due to a shortage of beds.

As his condition worsened, his wife admitted him to a private hospital on Saturday after hours of ordeal. But the man died less than 15 minutes after getting admitted. Hospital authorities took swab samples from the deceased and said the body would be handed over after the test results.

BBMP personnel also failed to shift the body of a Covid-19 patient in Kalasipalya almost a day after the death.

Despite civic workers disinfecting the place, the neighbours were in a state of panic after the body was kept at home.

Bengaluru, Jun 18: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah has accused the BJP-led government of not passing the benefit of the low price of crude to the common man and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to bring down prices of petroleum products.

Hitting out at the BJP-led government, he termed it as "opportunistic" and said the price of petroleum products were being increased when people were facing difficulties due to COVID-19.

"It is very disheartening to witness and unprecedented opportunistic government which is trying to extract every pound and flesh from the common man, that too when the whole country is suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in the backdrop of the continuous price hike in the last 10 days," said the letter was written on Wednesday.

The Congress leader said that the policy decisions taken by the government "with respect to managing fuel sources are inconsistent with the prudent measures generally adopted".

"When the price of crude oil was remarkably low in March, April and May 2020, your government was very reluctant to pass on the benefits to the people by reducing the fuel prices proportionately, but, instead, your government continued to capitalise by increasing the excise duty," he said.

He said the government had also "failed" in the last six years to increase the oil storage capacity which could have been used for the country's advantage when the international crude oil price fell really low.

He said the government should roll back the excise duty and help in the reduction of fuel prices.

"The reduced burden will help the common man to have additional money in hand that will be spent on essential goods and services which will ultimately help them tide over these difficult times," he said.