Mangaluru to get 15 smart CCTV cameras in sensitive places

Kottayam, Apr 6: "I will leave this room within a week after defeating you," the braveheart nurse had vowed after contracting the deadly coronavirus while attending to India's oldest COVID-19 survior, expressing unflinching faith in Kerala's health care system.

Last Friday, 32-year old Reshma Mohandas lived up to her promise and walked out holding her head high to her home, where she is now placed under 14-day quarantine, after she and the elderly man and his wife were discharged from the Medical College Hospital here on being cured of th e disease.

Soon after 93-year-old Thomas Abraham, whose recovery has been dubbed as a 'miracle cure' by the medical community, and 88-year old Mariyamma left the hospital, Reshma too headed home but with the resolve to come back and serve the patients after the mandatory two weeks quarantine.

"I will leave this room within a week after defeating you (coronavirus)", Reshma had posted in a WhatsApp group of her friends and colleagues while undergoing treatment in isolation at the hospital.

"I posted that message in the WhatsApp group because I have full faith in Kerala's health system. It is world class," Reshma told reporters from her home.

The nurse, who took care Thomas and Mariyamma since March 12, believes she contracted the disease as she was in close contact with and often talked to the couple, who did not wear masks as it made them uncomfortable.

She said she loved taking care of all their needs.

"I was not tensed at all. I love taking care of elderly people. We used to talk a lot (in the ICU)", she said.

Reshma, who was earlier working in the operating theatre of another section, said she used work for four hours in the ICU before she contracted the virus and was admitted to the same wing as a patient.

"I had close contact with them in the ICU because I paid attention to address their every needs," she said. The first warning sign came on March 23 morning when she had a throat infection.

Reshma immediately alerted the head nurse, who in turn informed the doctors.

She was asked to visit the fever clinic at the Medical College and was later referred to the isolation facility where she took care of elderly novel coronavirus patients.

Some 20 nurses who had come into contact with her were sent to home quarantine.

On March 24, she tested positive.

"I did not have any other complications, barring headache and body pain", she said.

Reshma said she was ready to serve in the isolation facility for COVID-19 patients after 14 days of mandatory home quarantine.

"I am ready to work again in the isolation facility when I return," the feisty nurse, whose husband is an engineer, said.

She was all the more happy that proper medical care at the hospital led to recovery of Abraham and Mariyamma.

Kerala Health minister K K Shailaja telephoned Reshma to express her happiness over her recovery.

The Minister said the news about a health professional contracting the coronavirus was a matter of concern for the state.

In a statement, she hailed Reshma's dedication as a professional and said she had treated elderly patients like her parents, attending to their every need.

The elderly couple, hailing from Ranni village in Pathanamthitta district had contracted the virus from their son, daughter-in-law and grandson who returned from Italy last month, all of whom have also recovered.

Bengaluru, Mar 5: Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday admitted in the legislative assembly that corruption was deep-rooted in government offices and held transfer racket as the root cause of the graft menace.

“Unless we root it out from the system, we can never uphold the spirit of the Constitution and ensure equitable justice to people. If legislators lend support (to this cause), then we can weed out this menace,” Yediyurappa said during a special discussion on the Constitution.

Successive governments have been accused by opposition parties of running a transfer racket, but there’s very little done to institute a probe or order a crackdown following the allegations.

The chief minister’s candid admission came after senior Congress MLA HK Patil, quoting a report from Amnesty International, said 63% of people in Karnataka give bribe to get their work done in government offices. The CM said he agreed with the report in toto.

Bengaluru, July 14: Girls outshone boys in the Second Pre-University Board examinations in Karnataka, results of which were announced on Tuesday.

As many as 6.75 lakh students had written the examination of which 4.17 lakh students passed.

Thus, the pass percentage is 61.80 per cent, Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar said while announcing the results.

He said 68.73 per cent girls cleared the exam against the boys whose pass percentage was 54.77 per cent.

In terms of urban versus rural, 62.60 per cent students passed in the urban area while 58.99 per cent were from rural areas.

The three districts where the students' performance was excellent were Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu whereas the districts where students fared badly were Chitradurga, Raichur and Vijayapura, the minister said.

Both Dakshina Kannada and Udupi have recorded 90.71 percent results. Kodagu has bagged second position with 81.53 pass percentage. Vijayapura district has recorded lowest pass percentage (54.22)

Combination wise, the pass percentage of students in science stream is 82.57 per cent, Commerce 72.60 per cent and Arts 47.90 per cent, said the Minister.

He also said of those who passed the examination, 72. 45 per cent were from English medium and 47.56 from Kannada medium.

There are 68,866 distinction scorers, 2,21,866 students who got first division and 77,455 students who passed the exam in second division, the minister added.