Dr Indira Heggade to preside Mangaluru Taluk Sahitya Sammelan

Bengaluru, Jul 16: Amid difficulties being faced by COVID-19 patients in getting beds, the Karnataka government on Wednesday made bed allocation display board mandatory in all hospitals registered under Karnataka Private Medical Establishment (KPME).

"It is made mandatory that all hospitals registered under KPME in Karnataka State should display at the reception counter, a bed allocation display board," a notification issued by the state government read.

"It should display the name of the hospital, the total number of beds (as per of KPME registration) and the total number of beds allocated for COVID-19 patients referred by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)," it said.

The notification further stressed that the data must corroborate with the data of the central bed allocation system of BBMP. The display board should be arranged by July 16.

Non-compliance to the order issued by the state government will attract punishment under relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act 2005 and Indian Penal Code, the order read.

The state government on June 23 issued a notification making it mandatory to reserve 50 per cent of the beds in private hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients referred by public health authorities.

Bengaluru, May 1: As Mumbai link surfacing in some COVID-19 cases in Mandya district in Karnataka, JDS leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday blamed the district administration for the situation, accusing it of not quarantining 7,000 labourers who 'returned' from the Maharashtra capital.

"The information we have is that there are about 16,000 labourers from Mandya were working in Mumbai of which 7,000 people reached the district. None of them was quarantined properly," Kumaraswamy told reporters in Bengaluru.

He claimed the district, a stronghold of JDS, was staring at a major spurt in cases due to the careless attitude of the district administration. "Government should initiate action against those who are responsible for the laxity," he said.

However, he did not specify when the 7,000 workers returned to Mandya. When asked about Kumaraswamy's claim, officials said they have to verify it. Of the eight cases reported from Mandya on Friday, three had a travel history to Mumbai, a major COVID-19 hotspot in the country, officials said.

A Health Department official said four of the fresh cases were contacts of a patient who tested positive on April 8 and admitted to a hospital. After weeks of coming in contact with him, the four were confirmed for COVID-19, an official said. The Three people with travel history to Mumbai had, in fact, brought the body of a man who died of a heart attack there on April 24, the official added.

Udupi, June 21: An entrepreneur lost his life after the car he was driving veered off the road and plunged into a roadside tank near Barkuru in Brahmavar taluk of Udupi district today.

The deceased has been identified as Santosh Shetty, a resident of Vakwadi in Kundapur taluk. He is the proprietor of Laxmi Glass and Plywood, Koteshwara. 

A woman, identified as Shweta, who was also on board the car suffered critical injuries.  

The mishap occurred when the duo was heading to Vakwadi from Brahmavar in Hyundai Car sedan car. 

Shetty lost control over his vehicle while negotiating a curve at Chaulikere and the car plunged off the road as there was no barricade. 

Even though local residents began rescue operation immediately, Shetty breathed his last on the spot. Shweta was rescued and shifted to a hospital in Manipal for treatment.