Now, Gau Raksha Dal members to go on patrol across Dakshina Kannada

Mangaluru, Mar 27: Nine throat swab samples that were sent for testing of the coronavirus, have been declared as negative while samples of four more persons are currently being tested, official sources said on Friday.

Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B. Rupesh said that 2,902 people are under home quarantine in the district as of today while three were admitted to hospitals for observation.

Around 38,051 people have been inspected, so far, here in this district.

Bengaluru, May 19: Containment zones in Karnataka will be much smaller in size under the latest lockdown norms. However, rules and loopholes will be tightened and action against violators will be stringent in order to check the spread of the disease.

Revised guidelines issued by the Centre to the state, reveal containment zones are delineated based on mapping of cases and contacts. Intensive action will be carried out in these areas with the aim of breaking the chain of transmission. Therefore, the area of a containment zone should be appropriately defined by the district administration/local urban bodies with technical inputs at local level.

The health department is considering shrinking the size of containment zones from the existing 100 metres to open up more space for economic activities. Medical education minister K Sudhakar, also a member of the Covid taskforce, said additional chief secretary (health department) Javed Akthar will issue a new definition of a containment zone after the Covid-19 taskforce holds its next meeting.

“We are planning to further shrink it and restrict containment zones to an apartment complex, independent house or even a lane where the Covid-19 patient resides,” Sudhakar said. He went on to say bigger containment zones will impede businesses and normal activities in the vicinity, something which the government wants to avoid.

The minister said Karnataka will also do away with colour-coding districts. “With restrictions being relaxed for almost all activities, it does not make sense to pursue with colour codes. It is either containment zone or outside containment zone,” he said.

In rural areas, the minister said containment zones will be identified by the taluk heads. Government sources say it is difficult to restrict activities to certain areas or smaller location in rural areas as farmers and people will have to travel to the outskirts of their villages for their livelihood.

An official said, a containment operation (large outbreak or cluster) is deemed successful when no case is reported in 28 days from the containment zone.

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Students and teachers from various colleges in Bengaluru gathered at the Town Hall in the city to protest against the violence which broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi on January 5.

The students raised slogans against Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Police.

Placards that read 'The more you attack, the stronger we become', 'Take off your masks terrorist', 'With JNU' were seen during the protest.

"We are here to protest against the incident that took place at JNU with our brothers and sisters. What Delhi Police did was shameful and they should have taken charge of the situation long before and not waited for three hours. We stand with JNU," Nisha, a protestor told ANI.

Professors present at the protest expressed regret over the incident and said attacks on the universities is a sick situation in the country.

"This is sick, where have we come to -- violence in the universities? I was so safe when I was studying in college; what we are giving to our students is horrible," said Sangeeta, a professor present at the protest.

Politicians, cutting across party lines, have condemned the attack on students in JNU and demanded strict action against those found guilty.

More than 18 students were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after a masked mob entered the JNU campus and attacked them and some professors with sticks and rods.