Minister Pramod Madhwaraj pays fine for riding bike without helmet

Bengaluru, Jul 16: Rattled by the spurt in Covid-19 positive cases, a Karnataka minister on Wednesday said only god would save the people from coronavirus pandemic.

"Only god has to save us from the virus or the people should be made aware of the infection so that they wear mask and maintain social distancing," state Health Minister B Sriramulu told reporters in Chitradurga, 205-km northwest of Bengaluru.

Noting that the infection does not differentiate between rich and poor, police, doctors, politicians or legislators, Sriramulu said the communicable disease could rise to alarming level in the ensuing two months, as the cases were rising daily the world over.

"Who can control coronavirus? In the present situation, only god has to save us. Otherwise, the people should become aware of its (virus) consequences. If we have made mistakes, we are ready to face punishment for them," said Sriramulu, who is the ruling BJP's legislator from the Molakalmuru reserved assembly segment in the district.

Refuting the opposition Congress charge that the cases were rising in the state due to negligence by ministers, officials and legislators, Sriramulu said Karnataka was performing better than other states till the cases began to steadily rise since unlock started and the people were moving in violation of the guidelines.

A record 3,176 cases were reported from across the southern state during the day, taking the Covid tally to a whopping 47,253, including 27,853 active cases after 18,466 were discharged, with 1,076 during the day, while 928 succumbed to the virus, with 87 in the last 24 hours.

In Bengaluru, which is under 9-day lockdown since Tuesday night till July 22 morning, 1,975 positive cases were registered, taking its tally to 22,944, including 17,051 active after 5,455 were discharged so far, with 463 during the day, while 437 died of the infection, with 60 in the last 24 hours.

Kasaragod, Mar 28: A pregnant Bihari migrant woman in labour gave birth in an ambulance after the Karnataka police allegedly refused to allow the ambulance carrying her to cross the border road to Mangaluru to reach her hospital.

The border road was shut due to the lockdown. The woman used to consult a doctor in Mangaluru across the border.

As Karnataka police stopped the vehicle at the border in Talapady, saying no vehicle, including ambulances from Kerala, could be permitted to their state, the drivers decided to take the woman was taken to the general hospital here, but she went into labour and delivered a baby girl in the vehicle

Both the mother and baby are doing fine, authorities said.

Hailing from Patna in Bihar, 25-year-old Gowri Devi and her husband were working in a local plywood factory in this north Kerala district, from where the maximum number of coronavirus cases have been reported so far in the state.

Those living in the border towns and villages of Kasaragod are dependent on the hospitals in Mangaluru as it is nearer, local people said.

The ambulance drivers- Aslam and Musthafa- said they stopped the vehicle by the wayside, making it safe for the woman. The baby girl and the mother were soon shifted to the government general hospital here and both of them are safe and healthy, they said.

Local people complained that not only pregnant women, but even patients requiring daily dialysis and emergency cardiac and cancer treatment were being sent back by Karnataka.

Newsroom, May 26: A migrant worker died of hunger while a 10-month-old boy suffering from fever and breathing difficulties died negligence in two separate incidents onboard Shramik Special trains in Uttar Pradesh.

The 46-year-old dead migrant worker’s nephew, who was accompanying him, said that the victim had not eaten anything in the last 60 hours.

Raveesh Yadav said that no food or water was provided on the train, which they had boarded from Mumbai to travel to their native place in Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh.

Yadav and his uncle were working as construction workers in Mumbai.

Yadav told the paper that the train had left the Lokmanya Terminal in Mumbai, at 7pm on May 20 and arrived at its final stop, Varanasi Cantonment station, at 7.30am on May 23.

“But my uncle, who was complaining of hunger and pain all over his body, fainted half an hour before we reached Varanasi Cantonment and died within a few minutes,” Raveesh was quoted as saying.

He added that he and his uncle were hungry when they boarded the train but could not find food or water to buy.

Railways’ apathy

Meanwhile, the family of 10 month old child, who died in the train, alleged that the railways did not arrange for a doctor despite their repeated pleas.

The railway doctors had been moved to Covid-19 hospitals and by the time a doctor was provided at Tundla railway station, it was too late, the report quoted the child's grandfather, Dev Lal, as saying.

Lal said that the family members had tried to speak to the GRP at many stations, including at Aligarh, where the train had halted. "But they showed no interest and said any help would be available only in Tundla,” Lal said.

Railways officials then took the kin to a quarantine centre in Tundla, as they suspected that the baby had died because of the novel coronavirus.  It was only on Monday that the incident came to light when another individual at the quarantine facility intimated journalists after the condition of the child's mother worsened.

Last November, the mother of the child, Priyanka Devi of Bihar's Notan village in West Champaran, had gone to visit her parents who reside in Noida with the baby, who was then just four months old. Her husband Pramod Kumar is a farmer, the report added.