Am already 71; faced 13 elections so far... it’s time to retire: Siddaramaiah

Hubballi, Apr 20: Dejected over failure to get alcohol for almost one month, a forty-five year old man and his sister died after consuming hand sanitizer in Kalghatgi taluk of Dharwad district on Sunday.

The deceased persons, identified as Basavaraj Venkappa Kuruvinkoppa and Jambavva Kattimani (50) of little hamlet Gambyapur, died at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS).

The wife of the deceased person has lodged a complaint at Kalghatgi police station stating that her husband had been addicted to alcohol since the last 10-12 years.

Basavaraj and his sister have reportedly consumed hand sanitizer several times since the last 2-3 days, severely deteriorating their health as they felt it is replacement for liquor and has high levels of spirit content.

They were admitted to KIMS only by Sunday early morning after complaining of serious pain in the stomach. The KIMS director Dr Ramalingappa Anthartani said that the deceased appears to have consumed too much sanitizer and the doctors couldn't save their life as they approached the hospital very late.

He also claimed that he is awaiting the postmortem report to know how much quantity of hand sanitizer the deceased had consumed.

"Condition of the patients was very critical when they were admitted to KIMS hospital. It seems that they had drunk too much hand sanitizer for non-availability of liquor. Consumption of hand sanitizer could prove fatal as it has high chemical contents" KIMS director Dr Ramalingappa Anthartani said

The Karnataka government has prohibited the sale of liquor ever since the Centre declared lockdown to control the spread of Coronavirus. This has prompted the alcohol addicts to buy liquor by paying hefty prices in the black market.

But, many poor people in villages have started consuming cheaper hooch and this trade has recently flourished in the rural areas.

Hooch trade has also prompted officials of the excise department to conduct raids in several villages of North Karnataka region. The many theft cases of liquor shops are reported in Karnataka as drunkards have become desperate to get alcohol.

The Karnataka government was planning to allow the sale of liquor after the end of the first phase of lockdown. But, the rising cases of Corona positive cases has prompted it to extend the ban on liquor sale until May 3.

Bengaluru, May 13: The Karnataka Common Entrance Test (K-CET) 2020 will be held on July 30 and 31.

The test, earlier as scheduled to be held on April 22, 23 and 24, was postponed due to COVID-19 crisis and the nation-wide lockdown.

Now, considering the dates for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) dates announced by the Union government, the state government has announced the revised dates on Wednesday.

Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan announced this in a press conference. The test will be held online, the minister said. 

For CET 2020, over 1.90 lakh students registered for admission to undergraduate engineering, B Tech, Architecture, Agriculture and veterinary science courses.

Home quarantine for repatriated pregnant women, children, senior citizens if they test covid-19 negative 

The Union Health Ministry has revised its discharge guidelines for COVID-19 patients, stating that only those with severe illness need to be tested (through a swab test) and a negative report needs to be obtained before discharge.

The latest guideline adds that other categories of patients, including very mild, mild, pre-symptomatic and moderate cases, need not be tested before discharge.

Mangaluru, May 17: Former health minister U T Khader demanded that the authorities carry out a scientific analysis of the five deaths that occurred due to Covid-19 in Dakshina Kannada. 

“The number of fatalities vis-à-vis the number of positive cases in the district is worrying, and the district administration and health department should not take the matter lightly. Lapses, if any, in dealing with the co-morbidity factors should be addressed, lest it become a major health challenge,” he warned.

Addressing reporters on Saturday, Khader, said only carrying out such types of analysis will help the health department combat the spread of the novel coronavirus in the future. “At present, the only data available with the health authorities here and in the state war room, is the number of people tested and number of positive cases,” Khader said.

“Any strategy to combat Covid-19 must be built around scientific analysis of causes of how the disease is spreading and to do so, concrete efforts must be made to find the source of the cluster at the First Neuro Hospital in Padil. A analysis of reasons that caused the deaths, will also come in handy for the authorities to prepare suitable advisories for the people, who in turn could take informed decisions,” Khader noted.