Mangaluru: 19-year-old boy dies as fish tempo knocks down two-wheeler

Bengaluru, Jun 18: With Karnataka observing 'Mask Day' today, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said that the state has organised a walk from Vidhana Soudha to Cubbon Park to create awareness about the importance of wearing a mask as a preventive measure against COVID-19.

"We are celebrating 'Mask Day' at all district headquarters today. We have organised a walk from Vidhana Soudha (to Cubbon Park) to create awareness about the importance of wearing a mask as a preventive measure against COVID-19," Yediyurappa told media persons here.

Earlier, the Chief Minister has said that film actors and sports personalities will take part in the event and it will be celebrated in all taluks as well.

"We will take strict action against those who are not maintaining social distancing. A fine of Rs 200 will be imposed on those for not wearing a mask in public places," he had said.

As many as 7,530 people have detected positive for COVID-19 in Karnataka, of which 94 people have succumbed to the infection till date, as per the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

Bengaluru, May 23: The Karnataka government on Friday said returnees from six states with high COVID-19 cases will be kept in institutional quarantine for seven days.

The states are - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

As per the standard operating procedure released by the government, all people to arrive via rain, air road are expected to quarantine.

After they test negative for the disease in pool testing, they will be sent for home quarantine for another seven days, the government said.

Returnees from other low prevalence states will be asked to follow 14 days of home quarantine, according to the standard operating procedure (SOP) for entry of persons from other states to Karnataka issued by the state health department late on Friday night.

However home quarantine is allowed for pregnant ladies, people above 80 years, patients with comorbidities and children below 10 years of age, along with one attendant after they test negative.

In special cases like businessmen coming for urgent work, the quarantine period will be waived if they furnish a report from an ICMR-approved laboratory showing they tested negative for COVID-19, it said.

However, if they don't have reports, they will have to stay in institutional quarantine and can leave once their results test negative.

In case their stay exceeds 5 days, they will be sent to the fever clinic and get a five-day extension if found asymptomatic.

The report should not be more than two days old from the date of travel.

All Karnataka returnees who entered from 4 May will be tested from 5-7 days from the time of their arrival.

If found COVID-19 negative, they will be sent to home quarantine and will have to follow due precautions, the SOP stated.

Bengaluru, Jul 18: Bringing a major change in the  administration of Bengaluru, which has emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot, the state government on Saturday transferred B H Anil Kumar out of the BBMP and brought N Manjunath Prasad to take his place. 

Manjunath Prasad, who headed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) before being replaced by Kumar, will take over with immediate effect. The government has also placed him in concurrent charge of the Revenue Department as well as the Disaster Management, Bhoomi and UPOR.

Kumar, an Additional Chief Secretary, has been put in a place where earlier a secretary was posted. He now heads the Department of Public Enterprises. The posting would have brought him two spots down had it not been for the government upgrading it to the level of additional chief secretary. 

Anil Kumar, who was earlier praised for his work to contain the coronavirus pandemic, had faced criticism by the High Court of Karnataka for the BBMP's failure to help people in containment zones as well as other issues on the spread of the pandemic. 

Sources in the government said, pressure has been building up against Anil Kumar over the last two months after most of the Bengaluru MLAs complained to the chief minister's office.

"No MLA backed him. Everyone had a problem," a source said. 

Things came to the head with regard to a Rs 436 crore project given to KRIDL. "The issue reached the chief minister's office as all the MLAs took an issue with the way the project was awarded," a source said. 

Another source said that Kumar came under fire after a central team flagged the issue of failing Covid-19 surveillance measures in Bengaluru. The central team's criticism, it is widely believed in the government, came as the last straw.