Bengaluru, Aug 3: All those who met Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who has tested positive for Covid-19, in the last three-four days will have to be quarantined, Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K said on Monday.
He also said those who came in contact with Yediyurappa in a couple of programmes in the past week are being traced.
Sudhakar, a medical doctor himself, said Yediyurappa has "very mild cough and his chest is clear."
"I think eight to ten days," he told news agency when asked how long the Chief Minister would have to remain in hospital.
Sudhakar said he is also getting himself tested as a few of his office staff had tested positive.
"All those who met the Chief Minister in the last 3-4 days...ideally they should be quarantined till they receive their results/report. Those who came in contact with him in a couple of programmes will have to isolate themselves and subject themselves for testing," the Minister said.
On the Chief Minister meeting Governor Vajubhai Vala, along with Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai last Friday, Sudhakar said as a result "They also become primary contacts. Ideally, they should also be quarantined and tested."
Yediyurappa who was hospitalised on Sunday night after testing positive for Covid-19 was "doing well" and is "clinically stable", the hospital treating him said.
The 77-year old leader is being monitored by a team of doctors at the Manipal hospital here.
"He is doing well, is clinically stable and will be monitored closely by our team," the hospital said in a statement late last night.
"I have tested positive for coronavirus. Whilst I am fine, I am being hospitalised as a precaution on the recommendation of doctors. I request those who have come in contact with me recently to be observant and exercise self-quarantine," Yediyurappa had said in his tweet.
Yediyurappa was in home quarantine a couple of weeks ago, after some staff members in his home office were found infected with the virus. Subsequently, he tested negative for Covid-19.
Bengaluru, Apr 27: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Monday demanded that the Karnataka government announce a special package for farmers who are on the verge of quitting agriculture as their profession following losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Please announce special package for the farmers to bail them out of the loss due to the lockdown.
Drop many of the schemes in the budget but don't leave the farmers in distress," Gowda said in his letter to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.
The JD(S) supremo said the way relief has been announced for the milk producers by procuring the unsold milk and distributing it to the slum dwellers, the same assistance should be provided to the farmers of the state.
"If you don't come forward to assist the farmers, then they will be forced to sell their land," Gowda cautioned the Chief Minister.
The former prime minister said the farmers are on the verge of falling in the debt trap and may be compelled to take the extreme step of suicide due to the losses.
Gowda said the farmers are unable to sell their crop because they are not getting proper price for their produce and are selling their crop at a throwaway price to minimise their losses.
"In just one month farmers reached the brink of bankruptcy as they are unable to sell the standing crops in lakhs of acres of land," Gowda said.
The JD(S) supremo has been championing the cause of farmers in the state and highlighting their sufferings.
On April 3 Gowda has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the plight of farmers, labourers and the middle class people due to the lockdown.
"In such times of crisis, we should see to it that there is no disruption in farming activities by ensuring proper marketing channels to agricultural produce, especially perishables.
Only then we can sustain our long battle against this pandemic," Gowda said in a tweet.
Bengaluru, May 29: Seven out of ten (72 per cent) workers in Karnataka reported having lost their employment during the COVID-19-induced lockdown, according to findings of a survey by Azim Premji University, in collaboration with ten civil society organisations.
The university said in a statement it conducted "a detailed" phone survey of 5,000 workers across 12 states in the country, to gauge the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on employment, livelihoods, and access to government relief schemes.
The survey covered self-employed, casual, and regular wage and salaried workers and it released the findings for Karnataka on Thursday.
Seventy-six per cent of urban workers and 66 per cent of rural workers lost their employment, the survey findings said.
For non-agricultural self-employed workers and wage workers, who were still employed, average weekly earnings fell by two-third.
More than four in ten salaried workers (44 per cent) saw either a reduction in their salary or received no salary during the lockdown.
Six out of ten households reported that they did not have enough money to buy even a weeks worth of essential items, according to the survey.
Eight out ten households reported a reduction in food intake, while less than three in ten vulnerable households (27 per cent) in urban Karnataka received any form of cash transfer from the government, it said.
In summary, the disruption in the Karnatakas economy and labour markets is enormous. Livelihoods have been devastated at unprecedented levels during the lockdown.
The recovery from this could be slow and very painful, the statement said.
As a response to the findings of this survey, the team which has conducted the survey suggested a universalisation of the PDS to expand its reach and implementation of expanded rations for at least the next six months.
It suggested cash transfers equal to at least Rs.7000 per month for two months, and proactive steps like expansion of MGNREGA, introduction of urban employment guarantee, and investment in universal basic services, among others.
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We are already facing lot of problems here without food and money.
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