Facebook post comparing Kalladka Bhat to an aged terrorist sparks row; cops warn of action

Bengaluru, Jun 17: Amid rising COVID cases in the past two weeks, the Karnataka government is planning to increase testing capacity to 25,000 samples a day, said a minister.

"Due to increase in cases in the last two weeks, the government is trying to scale up testing to 15,000 to 25,000 samples per day," said Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar.

He said people living in crowded places, sanitation workers, street vendors, healthcare workers, police and other frontline staff would be extensively tested.

"It has also been decided to mandatorily test all those who have symptoms of Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI)," he said.

Similarly, all people over 50 with ILI symptoms will be tested.

The health department will also randomly test samples in old containment zones to make sure that the infection is not recurring.

Currently, there are 72 Covid testing labs in the southern state, 41 government operated and 31 private labs.

However, for a few days, the number of Covid tests in the state have plummeted.

On Monday, the health department has tested only 5,362 samples across the state.

Likewise, on Tuesday, only 7,936 samples were tested, diverging from earlier weeks when around 10,000 cases were tested on an average.

In all, 4.57 lakh samples have been tested so far, of which 4.39 lakh have tested negative.

Mangaluru, May 2:  Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Spokesperson P V Mohan on Saturday urged the district administration to find the source of coronavirus in Dakshina Kannada (DK) district.

He asked the district administration to ascertain from where a woman from Bantwal's Kasba contracted virus on April 19.

''We do not want to convert Dakshina Kannada into Nanjangud,'' Mr Mohan said referring to the mysterious case of Patient 52 from Nanjangud who has been identified as the main source of virus to the rest of the positive individuals in Nanjangud.

Bengaluru, Apr 10: A Karnataka BJP MP's daughter who recovered from COVID-19 has said she did yoga and ''pranayama'' while in hospital quarantine and these were key to defeating the pandemic.

"I was there in the hospital for 14 days. I used to do Yoga and Pranayama. It helps a lot. Everyone should start doing it now," said Ashwini GS, daughter of Davangere MP GM Siddeshwara.

In a video message that went viral on Thursday, she said coronavirus was "not something to be feared and yoga, pranayama and a strong mental state are the key to defeat the pandemic."

Ms Ashwini tested positive for COVID-19 after she had returned from Guyana last month. She was admitted to the SS Hospital in Davangere where she was quarantined for 14 days.

"Throughout my stay in the hospital I did not have any symptom of coronavirus. I neither sneezed, nor coughed or had a running nose. There was no fever either," Ms Ashwini said.

However, she kept herself physically and mentally fit.

"Maintain social distancing, be aware of dos and don'ts and stay safe," the MP's daughter said.

The AYUSH Ministry's protocol has outlined measures to build a strong immune system and it included consuming warm water, practising yogasana, pranayama and meditation for 30 minutes every day.