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Bengaluru, Mar 27: Karnataka has so far witnessed 62 Covid-19 positive cases including 3 deaths and five discharges, according to mid-day bulletin released by the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

The state on Friday witnessed a sudden spike in the number of Covid-19 cases with the officials confirming seven new positive cases overnight (26 March 5:00 pm to 27 March 8:00 am) across the state including a 10-month-old baby boy becoming the youngest Covid-19 patient in Karnataka and second youngest patient in India after 8-month-old baby in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to mid-day bulletin released by the Department of Health and Family Welfare on Friday, Karnataka witnessed 62 Covid-19 positive cases including 3 deaths and five discharges. The 10-month-old baby (P56) even though had no travel history to any of the Covid-19 affected countries, officials revealed that the family members had taken the baby to Kerala and six primary contacts have been established and put under home quarantine.

This apart, a 20-year-old male (P57) who returned from Colombo, a 25-year-old female (P58) who returned from London have also been tested positive for Covid-19. Further, a 35-year-old female (P59) and 33-year-old female (P61) said to be the primary contacts of P25 (House Maid) have also been tested positive according to the officials

Besides, a 60-year-old male (P60) who returned to Sira in Tumakuru by train from New Delhi died on Friday morning also tested positive. His primary contacts, including health care professionals have been put under house quarantine. According to officials a 22-year-old male (P62) from Uttara Kannada with travel history to Dubai has also been tested positive for Covid 19 on Friday.

According to bulletin, all the patients barring P60 are being treated at designated isolation hospitals in Mangaluru, Bengaluru and Uttara Kannada. In the meantime, P1 and P3 from Bengaluru have been discharged from RGICD, according to officials.

Mysuru, Feb 14: Citing the coronavirus scare prevalent in the city, hotel owners have urged the civic corporation to shut down roadside food vends, calling them a risk to public health.

A team of the city Hotel Owners Association, led by president C Narayanagowda and honorary secretary Ravindra Bhat, met mayor Tasneem Bano and MCC commissioner Gurudatta Hegde on Tuesday and urged them to implement the high court’s ban on street food vending.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the association said it had raised the poor hygiene at such joints amid the coronavirus threat and increasing incidence of chikungunya and malaria in the city. There is no check on the ingredients or water used and the cleanliness of the kitchens and cooking staff, they pointed out. Many of the joints operate near drains and public urinals and don’t have running water for washing or cleaning utensils, they said. Besides, the vends dump unsegregated garbage and compromise pedestrian safety by blocking pavements, they alleged.

“As this involves the livelihood of the vendors, I will take a decision after discussions with the commissioner and elected representatives,” the mayor said while pointing out that MCC had issued identity cards to the vendors after collecting details about them and their stalls. She said the health and education standing committees would also be consulted.

Commissioner Hegde said MCC was planning to move the vendors to designated hawking zones to ensure their livelihood was not affected. He explained that any drive to remove the vends was fraught with law and order problems. “False cases have been filed against MCC officers whenever they conducted drives against footpath food vendors in non-hawking zones. We will consult with the city police commissioner before taking any steps,” he said.

Bengaluru, May 2: The Centre’s classification of districts created confusion in Karnataka as the state’s own categorisation deviates significantly from the health ministry’s list.

For instance, the Centre put the number of districts in the red zone in state at three, while the state Covid-19 war room puts it at 14. Bengaluru Urban and Mysuru figure in the red zone in both lists. While Bengaluru Rural with zero active cases on May 1makes it to the Centre’s red-zone list, it is in the orange zone according to the state.

In addition to these two, the state classifies Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Mandya, Bidar, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkaballapura, Dharwad, Gadag, Tumakuru and Davanagere as red-zone districts.

State Covid war-room authorities said they would take a look at the Centre’s criteria for classification and take a call. Besides, incharge Munish Mudgil pointed out that states are allowed to make additions to the red and orange zones. According to the Centre’s list, Karnataka has 13 districts in the orange zone and 14 in the green zone.

Sudan said, “the districts were earlier designated as hotspots or red zones, orange zones and green zones primarily based on the cumulative cases reported and the doubling rate. Since recovery rates have gone up, the districts are now being designated across various zones duly broad-basing the criteria.

This classification takes into consideration incidence of cases, doubling rate, extent of testing and surveillance feedback. A district will be considered under the green zone if there are no confirmed cases so far or if there is no reported case in the past 21 days.”