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Yadgir, July 2: A fresh video of the health staff dragging the body of a Covid-19 victim and dumping it into a pit disgracefully has gone viral on social media.

The incident occurred in Yadgir district of Karnataka on Tuesday, just days after shocking visuals of bodies of Covid-19 victims being handled disrespectfully in Ballari district went viral.

In the fresh video, two persons with PPE suits can be seen dragging, hurling and dumping the dead body of a senior citizen who died of covid-19. The duo dragged the body using a wooden log inserted to both hands of a plastic body bag for nearly 300 meters.

After pulling till the pit, the body was heartlessly dumped including a wooden log. Several villagers were also seen in the video.

The victim was settled in Siravara in Raichur district, although he originally hailed from Yadgir. On Sunday he was busy overseeing his daughter' wedding that was first postponed due to lockdown.

According to a relative of the deceased, on Monday he complained of breathing problems following which an ambulance was called to carry him to Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS).

Raichur Deputy Commissioner (DC), R Venkatesh said he was brought dead to the hospital as he succumbed en-route. The family members were quarantined and the body was packed as per the protocols and sent to Yadgir as his family members informed that the victim is from the neighbouring district. "In Yadgir district he was swabbed and his test results came positive," DC informed.

As soon as residents of Honagera village learned about the arrival of the body, the family members were harassed asking them to not to bury the body in any of the fields in the village.

Sridevi, a relative of the deceased said "the locals assembled near our house and threatened consequences if the body was brought here. Fearing backlash, we asked the district authorities to perform the last rites in the farmland owned by the victim. But it is now saddening to see the video where the body was inhumanely dragged and dumped."

Meanwhile Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa on Wednesday (July 1, 2020) said that six staff members have been suspended in connection with the inhumane funeral of a man who died of COVID-19 in Balari district.

Another covid victim’s body inhumanly dragged, dumped into pit in Karnataka pic.twitter.com/xs1fssupPg

— coastaldigest.com (@coastaldigest) July 2, 2020

Bengaluru, Mar 19: The Karnataka government has extended the statewide coronavirus shutdown till March 31 as the number of positive cases rose to 14, of whom 11 are those who came in from foreign countries.

In an emergency Cabinet meeting, the state government set up a task force of four ministers to lead the defence against the virus. This core team will have Rs 200 crore to orchestrate the combat.

When chief minister B S Yediyurappa announced the shutdown last week, it was to be in force until March 21, but it was always unlikely that the Covid-19 scare would have waned by then.

Several more restrictions were announced today. Quarantine will be mandatory for all passengers arriving from foreign countries. While schools, colleges and business establishments will continue to be closed, restrictions have been extended to marriages, fairs and social functions as well.

Public entry to Vidhana Soudha, Vikas Soudha and the M.S. Building has been barred till March 31.

While setting up the task force, the government has earmarked Rs 200 crore for the coronavirus campaign. The chief minister said there is no dearth of funds for fighting the virus.

The task force will have deputy chief minister Ashwathnarayana, home minister Basavaraj Bommai, medical education minister Sudhakar, health and family welfare minister B Sreeramulu and chief secretary T M Vijaybhaskar.  Sreeramulu will head the task force.

The task force will monitor coronavirus cases on a daily basis and orchestrate the response of all stakeholders. It will issue a daily bulletin on the epidemic and also run awareness campaigns.

With quarantine now mandatory for passengers coming in foreign countries, community centres, hotels, convention centres, resorts and even PGs will be rented to accommodate the new arrivals.

The compulsory quarantine will be for 15 days.

A quarantine stamp will be imprinted on the right hand of passengers coming in from foreign countries.

Since the Centre has relaxed the rules for using SDRF funds, the state government will draw from it to contain the pandemic; therefore, there will be more funds available to all districts, chief minister B S Yediyurappa said in the Assembly.

In further measures, all passengers and suspected Covid-19 cases will be tracked by their mobile phones.

Primary stage

“We are in the first and second stages of the epidemic. The virus is still at a primary stage and has not spread to community level," medical education minister Sudhakar said in the Assembly.

"It is important that we do not let the epidemic enter the third stage. It is possible if we implement stringent measures. People have responded positively to the state government’s measures and are cooperating with our decisions," Sudhakar said.

Bengaluru, Apr 17: The Karnataka government on Friday asked Information Technology, biotechnology and allied companies not to go for closure or layoffs citing lack of work orders due to COVID-19 lockdown and instead consider measures like cutting salaries among other things.

It said IT/BT companies in the state can resume operations with 50 per cent from their office space after April 20.

Deputy chief minister C N Ashwath Narayan, who is also in charge of IT & BT department, held video consultation with the captains of the industry in light of the disruption caused due to the lockdown, and discussed on the way forward - both for effective implementation of the lockdown as well as the future course to deal with the unique circumstances.

"Immediately we are going to permit 50 per cent, but it doesn't mean that they will be able to mobilise 50 per cent immediately. It will take few weeks for them to do so. Gradually percentage will increase and it will start getting back to normalcy," Ashwath Narayan told reporters.

Stating that there were discussions regarding layoffs, he said, companies should not go for layoffs, instead of that gradation or deduction in the salary should be taken up, so that it doesn't affect the functioning of companies also that are facing less orders.

"On handling such financial crisis they (industry) wanted government consideration with mutual cooperation and understanding the concerns," he added.

Pointing out that concerns were also expressed regarding measures or protocol that needs to be followed if any positive cases are reported in any of the office spaces, Ashwath Narayan said, certain guidelines will be issued in consultation with the Health Department.

"Once the relaxation is given this may become the usual phenomena, as cases will be reported here and there... so in that scenario how we need to work and handle the situation is important, so we will be working on protocols how to handle the situation. So far we have planned for residential areas and not for work spaces," he said.

The deputy chief minister said the IT and BT industry leaders are extremely happy with regard to the support system or backup given by the government of Karnataka, particularly IT/BT department.

Even during this crisis period in the entire world, Karnataka and Bengaluru were able to get a good reputation and become reliable partner, as IT/BT service providers in both the city and the state were able to provide excellent quality services to their clients without any interruption, he said.

If you compare with any state or country, we have done extremely well, and hope that this would get more business, he added.

Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, who is also the Chairman of Vision Group IT, were among others present at the video conferencing.

Noting that concerns expressed by the industry regarding passes for employees to commute to office, Ashwath Narayan said, the government would make necessary arrangements in this regard, considering measures that need to be taken after April 20.

Regarding providing transport facility, they can seek for services from public transport Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) on a contract basis, he said, adding that "We will be ready to facilitate BMTC."

The minister said the industry leaders wanted internet services to continue with the same quality and without any interruption.