Noted Kannada writer Sa Shi Marulayya passes away

Mangaluru, May 10: A special train carrying 1,140 migrant workers stranded here in the lockdown has left Mangaluru railway station for Jharkhand.

Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and Vedavyas Kamath, MLA, were present at the railway station on Saturday night when the train left.

Kamath said the workers who had registered on the state governments Seva Sindhu portal were brought to the railway station in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses.

A health check-up was carried out before they boarded the train.

The district administration also provided food packets and water to the migrants at the station.

Three more trains will leave from Mangaluru for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand soon, he said.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sindhu P Rupesh said train services are being arranged for migrant workers who have registered their names on the Seva Sindhu portal.

The workers will be informed when trains are arranged to their destinations and they need not throng the railway station unnecessarily, she said.

Around 20,000 workers have so far registered themselves online, including 5,000 from Jharkhand, 3,000 from Uttar Pradesh and 4,000 from Bihar.

Hundreds of migrant workers had on Friday staged a protest at the central railway station here, demanding that they be sent back home.

The workers went back to their camps only after district authorities and police gave them assurance that trains will be arranged in three days.

Bengaluru, Jun 1: Karnataka's Department of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday released the protocol for inter-state travellers to the State during phased reopening --#Unlock1.

Five points protocol in this regard are: 1. Mandatory Self- Registration on Seva Sindhu Portal by all travellers before entering Karnataka:

a. Name, Address and Mobile Number to be provided

b. No approval required

c. Use of same Mobile number for multiple registrations not allowed except in the case of a family.

d. Business visitors to give details (name, mobile and address of persons in Karnataka they intend to meet).

e. Transit travellers to provide an address in destination state and indicate exit check post from Karnataka.

2. Health Screening of all incoming persons at entry points.

a. Border Check-posts, Airports, Railway stations and Bus stand

b. Home Quarantine hand-stamping on hand for 14-days period as per quarantine norms

3. Quarantine norms are based on three parameters

I. Symptomatic on arrival from any State: 7 days of Hospital isolation at COVID Care Centre(CCC)/Dedicated COVID Health Centre (DCHC) followed by 7 days of home quarantine or manage as per symptoms.

II. Test immediately on arrival: If positive, shift to Dedicated COVID-19 Hospital (DCH). If negative, no further test required

III. Asymptomatic on arrival:

* For persons coming from Maharashtra

a) 7 days of institutional quarantine followed by 7 days of home quarantine

b) Test if they develop symptoms during the quarantine period

c) Exceptions for Special Category Asymptomatic persons--14-days home quarantine (one attendant to be permitted) and Special category passengers--Death in the family, Pregnant Women, Children aged below 10 years, Elderly aged above 60 years, Serious illness, Human Distress

d) Business travellers from Maharashtra: To establish that one is a business traveller, a person should show confirmed return flight/train ticket which should not be more than 7 days later from the date of arrival.

In case one is coming by road, he/she should provide the address proof of person in Karnataka he intends to meet. In addition, the person should produce -- one having COVID-19 negative test certificate, which is not more than two days old -- exempted from quarantine.

One does not have a COVID-19 negative test certificate, such a person should go for institutional quarantine of two days within which COVID-19 test should be conducted at his/her own cost. After the test result is negative, the person is exempted from quarantine. No hand stamping of the business visitor is required.

e) All travellers from Maharashtra who come with COVID-19 negative test certificate from an ICMR approved lab, which is not more than two days old from the date of arrival, are exempted from seven days of institution quarantine. They can be asked to go for 14 days of home quarantine.

f) Transit traveller from Maharashtra: To establish that one is a transit traveller, a person should show flight/ train ticket for the onward journey which should not be more than 1 day later from the date of arrival. In case one is travelling by road, he/she should provide the identity proof and address proof in the destination state. Such traveller should be hand stamped if travelling by road as "Transit Traveller."

*For persons coming from other States

a) 14 days of home quarantine

b) Test if they develop symptoms during the home quarantine period

c) For persons where home quarantine is not possible, then institutional quarantine should be done, especially when we have a large family or no separate room for home quarantine, slum or overcrowded areas where home quarantine can not be followed.

d) Business visitors from the Other States: To establish that one is a business traveller, a person should show confirmed return flight/train ticket which should not be more than 7 days later from the date of arrival. In case one is coming by road, he/she should provide the address proof of the native State. No quarantine, and no hand stamping for business visitors from other states.

e) Transit traveller from the other States: To establish that one is a transit traveller, the person should show flight/train ticket for the onward journey which should not be more than one day later from the date of arrival. In case one is travelling by road, he/she should provide the identity proof and address proof in the destination state. Such traveller should be hand stamped if travelling by road as "Transit Traveller."

4. Home Quarantine: Home quarantine follow-up for all incoming persons except business visitors and transit travellers

A. For Rural Areas--

* Home quarantine poster on the home door.

* Information to two neighbours

* Gram Panchayat Task Force to carry an overall responsibility of Home Quarantine

* 3-Member team in every village to monitor

* Flying Squad: FIR against violation of home quarantine and shift to institutional quarantine

* IVRS Call-centre outbound calls

* Quarantine watch App-daily self-monitoring upload-Temperature, Finger-tip pulse-oximetry for elderly and persons with co-morbidity

B. For BBMP and other Urban Areas--

* Home Quarantine Poster on the home door.

* Information to two neighbours and resident welfare/apartment owner's association.

* Ward level team to carry an overall responsibility of home quarantine

* 3-member team at booth level to monitor along with the involvement of Resident Welfare/Apartment Owners' Associations

* Flying Squad: FIR against violation of home quarantine and shift to institutional quarantine

* IVRS Call-centre outbound calls

* Quarantine watch App: Daily self-monitoring upload- temperature, finger-tip pulse-oximetry for elderly and persons with co-morbidity

Karnataka government on Sunday issued guidelines, which will come into force from June 1 and continue till June 30.

According to the new guidelines, religious places and places of worship for the public, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services, and shopping malls will be permitted to open from June 8.

Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Saturday announced new guidelines for phased re-opening of "all activities outside containment zones for the next one month beginning June 1.

In an order, Karnataka government said that phased re-opening of areas outside the containment zones, all activities will be permitted, except the following, which will be allowed, with the stipulation of following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be prescribed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

According to the Union Health Ministry, there are 2,922 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the State including 1,877 active cases, 997 recovered and 48 deaths.

Bengaluru, May 18: A large number of people in India are planning inter-city bus travel within a month of the lifting of travel restrictions, according to a randomised online survey of over 10,300 customers of redBus, India's largest online bus ticketing platform.

Nearly 57 per cent of the respondents are planning to travel within a month post the lockdown. However, there is a high standard of expectation on the implementation of measures to make buses safe for travel with over 79 per cent wanting deep cleaning and sanitisation of buses after every trip.

Hand sanitisers, mandatory masks and temperature screening for all passengers are next in expectations for bus travel. Over 78 per cent of the respondents want the implementation of hygienic conditions at boarding points and 70 per cent want social distancing protocols to be implemented at boarding points.

"The survey does underscore the fact that given the adherence to safety protocols, bus travel is possibly one of the safest options for travel since the number of travellers are fewer, checks can be done individually and the whole factor of pick up and drop as close to home as possible minimises the number of contacts throughout the journey," said redBus Chief Executive Officer Prakash Sangam.

In addition, online booking further reduces the number of contact points as people can book bus tickets directly from their home. Further, there is a heightened awareness of personal hygiene and safety measures which is important for the travel to be safe.

"The large number of people waiting to travel not only points to the need but also the importance it has for the revival of economic activity as very few of them would be travelling for leisure," said Sangam.

The survey also showed that passengers put a very high consideration on hygiene, sanitation and disinfection -- over 73 per cent -- and social distancing (63 per cent) and much lower consideration to traditional factors such as travel cost (22 per cent), comfort (21 per cent) and punctuality (18 per cent).

The survey was conducted among redBus customers across India. Only 5 per cent of the respondents were willing to postpone their travel to over six months while the rest had plans to travel within that period.