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Bengaluru, Apr 15: As many as 17 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Karnataka, taking the total number of cases in the state to 277, including 75 discharged and 11 deaths, the state government said on Wednesday.

Of the 17 new cases, nine are workers of a pharmaceutical company in Mysuru, the government stated.

Meanwhile, a 65-year-old from Chikkaballapur, who had tested positive for COVID-19, lost his life on Wednesday.

"He was referred to a Bengaluru hospital with complaints of H1N1 positive, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease with obstructive sleep apnea and a past history of diabetes and hypertension," the government stated.

Mysuru, Mar 13: A state-of-the-art viral research laboratory in the city has been identified as one of the testing laboratories for the detection of COVID-19, official sources said here on Friday.

The samples of suspected cases could be sent to the lab for analysis and it would take about three hours to get the results.

The Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL), which was set up from Central grants and functions at the Microbiology Department of K.R. Hospital, has been authorised to carry out the tests. This lab in Mysuru is among the 52-plus laboratories in the country.

Though the VRDL is equipped to carry out the tests, the sole authority of confirming the virus lies with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. VRDL is also the sole agency for collection and transportation of suspected samples of COVID-19 to NIV.

VRDL, which is part of the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, functions on the advice of NIV.

According to the guidelines issued by ICMR, the results of the tests done here have to be shared with NIV the same day and the labs are not supposed to disclose the results since the NIV is the only authority to declare positive cases. Also, confirmation from the NIV should be awaited in case the samples test negative for COVID-19. The ICMR, in the guidelines made available on its website, has advised clinicians at labs to isolate the patient tested positive for COVID-19 in the identified facility and follow bio-safety precautions.

VRDL is a part of a network of labs established by the Department of Health Research, Government of India. The rise in the number of viral outbreaks and the resultant mortality had been cited as key reasons for the launch of network of such hi-tech labs in the country.

The NIV and the National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi, are the top laboratories for the network, while the National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, is the supervising authority for the data generated by the network of labs, sources added.

Bengaluru, Apr 15: The Karnataka government on Wednesday opened a critical care support unit to monitor the progress of Coronavirus patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of various designated COVID hospitals across the State.

Karnataka is the first state in the country to establish a dedicated unit for critical care support, by linking ICUs of COVID hospitals onto a single platform, Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K, who inaugurated it, was quoted as saying in a statement on Wednesday.

Its objective is to monitor COVID-19 patients in ICUs across Karnataka state so that the hospitals are prepared for the potential onslaught of the virus and thereby to achieve zero COVID mortality in Karnataka, he said, adding, it would enable capturing details of ICU COVID-19 patients in real-time