SDPI, ISF help repatriate body of Karnataka man from Saudi after elected reps fail to assist

Mangaluru, July 14: In order to detect COVID-19 cases quickly in Dakshina Kannada, the government has commissioned a programme to administer rapid antigen tests.

The coastal district has already received 3,500 rapid antigen test kits, which can give results in 30 minutes, an official said, adding that tests will be conducted shortly and training is being imparted on the use of the kits.

The antigen tests will be conducted for emergency cases like delivery, surgery, persons with severe symptoms of Covid-19, multiple-organ failure and for those whose condition is critical. 

"If a symptomatic patient tests negative for Covid-19, then his throat swab sample would be sent for lab testing," the district health officer (DHO) said.

The rapid antigen tests is expected to help in increasing the number of tests and bring down the load of testing on labs, as antigen kits allow faster diagnosis.

It takes a minimum of eight hours to get the results via real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. Antigen tests can provide results within half an hour.

Mangaluru, Jun 19: A repatriation flight from Doha brought 178 passengers to Mangaluru today. This is the first flight operated from Qatar to Mangaluru under the Vande Bharat Mission. 

The Air India Express flight, which took off from Hamad International Airport in Doha at 12 noon (Qatar time) landed at Mangaluru International Airport around 6.30 pm IST.

Indian embassy had prepared the list of passengers to be flown in the flight. Stranded people who were in need of emergency repatriation such as pregnant women, senior citizens and those in need of emergency medical treatment were given priority while finalising the list of passengers. 

Kannadiga organisations in Qatar such as Karnataka Sangha, Tulu Kuta Qatar, Karnataka Muslim Welfare Association, Mangalore Cricket Club, Bunts Qatar, Mangalore Cultural Association, South Canara Muslim Welfare Association, Qatar Billawas had been striving for the repatriation of stranded Kannadigas by exerting pressure on the elected representatives to operate flights. 

Kannadigas in Qatar have thanked former Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Jayaprakash Hegde for persuading the authorities concerned to facilitate the repatriation. 

Bengaluru, May 20: An owner of a hair cutting training salon in the city has given shelter to the jobless IT professionals and migrant workers hailing from north-eastern states and Nepal, in his salon.

Rahul Rai, the owner said, "The moment the lockdown started then I received many complaints from different corners that several persons became jobless and they were thrown out of their rented accommodations."

"They are from different states of the North-east and some of them are from Nepal also. I converted my hair-cutting training salon into a shelter home for them," he added.

A person who got shelter at the salon said, "I lost my job after the lockdown started. I was facing a lot of issues after my landlord had evicted me from my rented accommodation. I spent about a week nearby a lake. I managed to contact Rahul Rai through Facebook and he rescued me along with many others."