Two brothers killed as speeding bus rams into auto-rickshaw in Karkala

Bengaluru, Aug 4: Karnataka on Tuesday reported its biggest single-day spike of 6,259 Covid-19 cases and 110 fresh deaths, taking the total infection count to 1,45,830 and the toll to 2,704, the health department said.

The day also saw a record 6,777 patients getting discharged after recovery, outnumbering the fresh cases. Out of 6,259 fresh cases, a total of 2,035 cases were from Bengaluru Urban district. The previous biggest single-day record was on July 30 when the state added 6,128 cases.

A bulletin from the department said cumulatively 1,45,830 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state and it included 2,704 deaths and 69,272 discharges. Out of the 73,846 active cases, as many as 73,212 patients were stable in isolation at designated hospitals while 634 in the intensive care units.

Among the fresh deaths, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 30 followed by Dakshina Kannada (13) and Mysuru (9).

Most of the people who succumbed either had a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza-like illness (ILI), the bulletin said. Besides Bengaluru Urban, the other districts which reported higher fresh cases on Tuesday are Mysuru 662, Kalaburagi 285, Ballari 284, Belagavi 263, Dakshina Kannada 225, Davangere 191, Dharwad and Hassan 188. Bengaluru Urban district continued to top the list of positive cases with a total of 63,033 infections, followed by Ballari 7,638 and Dakshina Kannada 6,388.

Among discharges too Bengaluru Urban tops the districts with 27,877 discharges, followed by Ballari 3,724 and Kalaburagi 3,470. A total of 14,89,016 samples had been tested so far, out of which 42,458 on Tuesday with 29,488 being rapid antigen tests.

Bengaluru, Aug 8: Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday demanded that the state government drop its plan to provide doorstep delivery of liquor.

"After faltering in mopping up revenue, the state government is mulling over allowing doorstep delivery of liquor by enabling online sales and starting new MSIL liquor shops in rural areas. I demand that the state government drop its plans," he tweeted.

"I came to know that the excise commissioner is keen to hold talks with a private firm to enable online sale of liquor. The government should back out from such a foolish decision. Otherwise, agitation is inevitable," Kumaraswamy said.

He said opening new liquor shops or online delivery will ruin the health of society.

"Post-COVID outbreak and subsequent lockdown, people are facing financial distress, struggling to lead day-to-day life. 

The government must withdraw such an imprudent decision to deliver liquor at doorsteps. Opening new liquor shops or the decision of online delivery in times of distress like this will spoil society's health. 

It is not fair for the government to fill its coffers by robbing people's money," he said in a series of tweets.