Muslims in Mangaluru, Udupi, Kerala to observe Eid-ul-Adha on Sept 12

Bengaluru, Jul 8: Karnataka has drafted 1,246 government employees into the crucial task of contact tracing to fight the coronavirus pandemic, and they have been warned of action if they refuse to work.

These are Group A, B and C employees from various departments who have been asked to report to senior IAS officer V Manjula, who heads a task force on Covid-19 contact tracing.

In an order, Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar on Tuesday said additional human resources were required to strengthen contact tracing, which is “a very important part” of controlling the spread of Covid-19.

Bengaluru, Jun 23: In an attempt to avoid exploitation of patients affected with coronavirus, the Karnataka government on Tuesday announced fixing charges that could be collected from patients by the private hospitals for treatment in the State.

There are now two sets of rates for patients--those who are referred by public health facilities and those who approach private hospitals directly.

According to the notification issued by State Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar on Tuesday, 50 per cent of the total beds in private hospitals having facilities to treat Covid-19 patients shall be reserved for the treatment of patients referred by public health authorities.

This will include the high-dependency unit and ICU (intensive care unit) beds both with and without ventilators. The hospitals may utilise the remaining Covid beds for admitting Covid-19 patients privately.