Buffer zone likely to be created between MRPL and Jokatte to prevent pollution

Bengaluru, Jul 10: Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers under the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) on Friday held protests in different parts of Karnataka, demanding personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and a salary of at least Rs 12,000 per month.

According to Madhu Kumari, an ASHA worker from Kalaburgi, ASHA workers currently receive a salary of Rs 3,000 per month.

"Our demand is to increase our wages to at least Rs 12,000 per month. We have been making this demand for the last six months but we have not received any response from the authorities. We will not go back to work until we are given an appropriate response. We did not want to create a difficult situation but the government has given us no choice," Kumari told ANI.

Clad in their signature pink saris, the women were holding posters in their hands and raising slogans to demand appropriate salary for their work and the necessary equipment to protect themselves from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Farhana, an ASHA worker protesting in Shivamogga, said that the women have been making demands for PPE kits since June 30. "We have been taking care of COVID patients for the last few weeks but have not received adequate PPE kits. A few of us received some in the beginning but they were not enough. We are not even given hand sanitiser or masks to protect ourselves," she added.

"We have sent letters to the District Commissioner's Office and to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare but our pleas have gone unheard. We are protesting to get the attention of the concerned authorities," she added.

They also demanded that authorities to conduct their COVID-19 tests as they have to deal with patients infected with the virus.

Sajida, an ASHA worker in Kalaburagi said, "We are very stressed about the COVID situation. We take care of sick people day in and day out, but no one is there to take care of us. We want the government to conduct COVID tests for all ASHA workers in the state."

Mangaluru, Apr 22: A staff working at the office of Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner was sent to quarantine as a precautionary measure here in the city on Wednesday.

The staff reportedly is a distant relative of a woman (native of Bantwal) who recently died due to killer Corona Virus in Wenlock Hospital, prompting the DC office to send the staff for 14-day quarantine.

According to the reports the staff had met the Doctor who was treating the woman and had inquired about her health condition on April 18.

However the staff did not meet the woman when she was in hospital as she was being treated in the ICU.

Bengaluru, Jun 5: A COVID-19 patient, who was admitted to Victoria hospital, has recovered from the disease after he was administered convalescent plasma therapy.

He is the second patient in the state who has recovered from COVID-19 after the therapy.

"I am happy to inform the second plasma therapy patient has recovered and shifted out of ICU. This middle-aged patient was admitted in Victoria hospital ICU with severe COVID-19 illness and was also diabetic with poor sugar control," Dr Vishal Rao, HCG Hospital Bengaluru said.

"The patient received convalescent plasma on May 27, since then there was steady improvement in patient's condition and was taken off high flow nasal oxygen on June 2, 2020, and is at present on a minimal oxygen, shifted toward yesterday. With the rapid recovery we hope to discharge the patient soon," he said.

Speaking further, Rao said: "This is a significant improvement and reassuring. We hope to see him recover completely and will closely monitor the condition going forward to send the patient from ward to home."

In Karnataka, 4,320 coronavirus cases have been reported including 1,610 cured/discharged/migrated and 57 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.