It is 'women first' for govt and party, says PM Modi

Kasaragod, Jul 26: First funeral, now wedding. Forty-three persons who attended a wedding at Pilankatta in Chengala panchayat in Kasaragod on July 17 have tested positive for Covid-19, said district medical officer (DMO) A V Ramdas.

They include the bride and the groom. Collector D Sajith Babu has asked all those who attended the wedding to go into home quarantine for 14 days. Those with Covid symptoms should get in touch with the nearest primary health centre, he said.

The DMO said samples of 128 persons linked to the wedding were tested, of which 43 turned out positive. Earlier, 44 persons who attended a funeral in Cherkala in the first week of July had tested positive. The funeral was declared a cluster and the government had to test 522 persons linked to the funeral.

The collector said those taking part in funeral or weddings without following the Covid protocol would be booked under the Kerala Epidemic Diseases Act. If convicted, they would face up to two years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of `10,000. Kasaragod police said they will register a case in connection with the wedding. 

Pilankatta ward member Abdulla Kunhi K B said it was not a big fat wedding. The ceremony held at the bride’s house at Pilankatta was attended by less than 100 people, he said.“Theirs is a big family with four houses in one compound. 

As many as 30 members are staying in these houses,” said Kunhi. Nine of the 30 have tested positive.Of the 15 guests, who came from the bride’s mother’s house, 12 contracted the infection. “The rest of the infected persons were among the groom’s guests,” said Kunhi, who did not attend the wedding. The groom and the bride’s father returned from Dubai three months ago.

1,049: state records biggest recovery
A total of 1,049 Covid patients recovered on Saturday. This is the first time that the number of recoveries crossed the 1,000-mark in the state. The previous highest was 968 reported on Friday. So far, as many as 8,613 patients have recovered.

roping in ayush experts a challenge  
Plan to bring AYUSH practitioners for treating positive patients at CFLTCs is going to be a challenge for the government. It turned out that respective associations were planning to approach the government with an individual charter of demands. 

Bengaluru, Mar 27: In a preparatory measure to tackle any exigency in the backdrop of spread of coronavirus, the Karnataka government has asked district administrations to use as quarantine centres the residential schools and hostels that come the under Social Welfare department.

"Wherever necessary, these residential schools and hostels can be converted as quarantine facility without any extra cost by the district administrations," Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol said in a statement.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Karnataka stood at 55, including two deaths and three discharged persons, as on Thursday.

Karjol, who is also the Minister in-charge of Social Welfare department said, in view of holidays for educational institutions, there were no students staying in the residential schools and hostels and hence they can be used for quarantine purpose.

All the residential schools at hostels in districts and taluks are spacious and have all required facilities like rooms, kitchen, toilets, bathrooms, libraries among others, the Minister said adding most of them were located away from densely populated areas.

Bengaluru, Jan 12: Protesters plan to intensify their anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act movement from sit-down satyagrahas and rallies to street and door-to-door campaigns in different parts of the city.

The street campaigns began on January 1 with 20-30 volunteers of Hum Bharat Ke Log, reaching out to people in Koramangala and Whitefield and explaining the CAA, National Population Register (NPR), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and related issues. They have organised four campaigns.

According to Zia Nomani, member of Hum Bharat Ke Log, the campaign will intensify soon. “Over 200-400 volunteers will organise nukkad sabhas and other activities around JP Nagar and Banashankari,” Nomani said.

She added that though protests began as a medium for people to vent their concerns, more needs to be done.

“We have realised that many people have begun working on their personal documents and want to help them understand what CAA is all about,” Nomani said.

Volunteers will talk to people at street junctions, discuss issues and run signature campaigns. They say: “Our movement is focussed on reaching out to people. Pro-CAA workers too started a door-to-door campaign last week.”

Avani Chokshi, an advocate who participated in a campaign, said though people had a cursory idea about these issues, they didn’t know the details. “It through such campaigns that we can reach more people. It’s important to talk to people who haven’t made up their mind about the issues or are even pro-CAA,” said Avani, adding, “It hard to combat hatred in a short span of time. The movement needs to be sustained.”

Activist Geeta Menon, who has been at the forefront of the street campaign, says they were heckled at some places.