Hashim Ansari, oldest litigant in Babri Masjid case dies at 95

Bengaluru, Jul 9: Bringing to the fore the dangers frontline workers face in combating the deadly coronavirus, 395 policemen have tested positive for the infection since the outbreak of the pandemic in Bengaluru. This includes five deaths, Inspector General of Police and Additional Commissioner of Police (Administration) Hemant Nimbalkar told media persons.

He said as of Thursday, 190 have been cured while 200 are under treatment. Twenty police stations have been sealed, he added.

He claimed the Bengaluru police has suffered the most compared to any department, organisation or institution because the force is deployed in the field and dealing with the situation.

The infection among police is highest despite training being given to them on how to protect themselves from the coronavirus.

According to him, every morning duty charter is given to the police personnel where they are told how to avoid getting the infection and handle the situation if they find symptoms of coronavirus.

"Despite taking all the precautions, infection in our department is high because we are the ones who are on the road.

We are meeting hundreds of people whom we don't know, whether they are Covid infected or not," Nimbalkar said.

Along with the policemen, their families too are at risk of contracting the virus.

An assistant sub-inspector at VV Puram police station was the first casualty in the Bengaluru police on June 13.

A heart patient, who was on leave due to ill health, he collapsed at home and died.

Bengaluru, Jul 10: With 2,313 more people testing positive for coronavirus in Karnataka in the last 24 hours, its overall tally of patients rose to 33,418 on Friday, health officials said.

57 patients died in Karnataka in the last 24 hours, with majority (27) of them from Bengaluru, taking the state''s death toll to 543, the officials added.

Bengaluru accounted for 1,447 or 63 per cent of the new COVID-19 cases, spiking its tally to 15,329, out of which 11,687 are active cases.

The city alone accounts for 46 per cent of all the cases in the state.

As many as 45 deaths had Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) as a common symptom.

Among the new cases, excluding Bengaluru, Dakshina Kannada accounted for 139 infections, followed by Vijayapura (89), Ballari (66), Kalaburagi (58), Yadgir and Mysuru (51 each) among others.

On Friday, a record 1,003 patients got discharged, 601 of them in Bengaluru alone with the total number of discharges rising up to 13,836.

Until now, Karnataka has tested 7.79 lakh samples for Covid, out of which 7.28 lakh tested negative.

Despite the record number of discharges, patients in ICU rose to 472.

Of the 33,418 cases, 19,035 are active in the state.

Riyadh, July 6: The government of Saudi Arabia has announced health protocols to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in the 2020 Hajj season, banning gatherings and meetings between pilgrims.

Saudi Arabia decided in June to limit the number of domestic pilgrims attending the Hajj to around 1,000 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, after barring pilgrims abroad from the rite for the first year in modern times.

Touching the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam, will be banned during the Hajj this year, and a social distancing space of a meter and a half between each pilgrim during the rituals including mass prayers and while in the Kaaba circling area will be imposed, a statement by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) elaborated.

Also, access to holy Hajj sites at Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat will be limited to those with Hajj permits starting Sunday July 19 till Aug. 2 2020, and wearing masks all the time will be mandatory for both pilgrims and organisers.