Goa now a popular tourist destination in monsoon too

Mangaluru/Mysuru, May 19: Though the Karnataka government permitted the private buses, operators in Dakshina Kannada district have decided not to operate buses until May end. In Mysuru district too the private buses remained off the roads.

Dakshina Kannada Bus Owners’ Association President Dilraj Alva said “Technically, private bus operators are not able to operate services as all of us have surrendered our permits. If we start services we will have to pay the tax for entire month. Hence, we have decided to resume bus services from June 1.”

The private buses had suspended their services since March 24.

In addition, bus owners also have two more demands which the state government needs to consider on priority, he said.

“We have requested the government to exempt private buses from paying tax for the next six months. We were not plying buses during lockdown and it will be tough for us in the next three months to operate as per new conditions.”

“The government has allowed only 30 persons in each bus to maintain social distancing. In addition, we have been urging the state government for bus fare revision since 2013. The government has revised the bus fares of KSRTC twice after that,” Alva said adding that bus owners will be meeting Mangaluru RTO on Tuesday.

Bengaluru, May 11: Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar today held a video conference with Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja to discuss measures to tackle COVID-19.

The ministers discussed in detail the protocols for testing, quarantine and treatment for COVID-19 that are being followed by both the states.

The Karnataka Health Department on Monday said that 10 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the state, taking the total number of positive cases to 858.

"31 people have lost their lives due to coronavirus in the state and 422 persons have been discharged after recovery," the Health Department added.

Kerala, on the other hand, has tackled the coronavirus crisis better than most other states of the country. There are only 19 active cases of COVID-19 in the state while 489 people have recovered. The death toll in the state is 4, according to the data published by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.

Bengaluru, Jun 12: The Central government has identified Karnataka's Udupi and Yadgir among the "emerging districts of concern" for COVID-19 in the country. Confirming the development, a top official of the state health department said, "they (centre) had reviewed these two districts a few days back...there was a sudden spurt of cases due to Maharashtra returnees turning positive." Sources said union cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba, during a recent video conference with state chief secretaries and health secretaries, had shared his thoughts on the issue.

According to the information shared, districts with more than 400 cases, half of which was reported post-May 18 lockdown relaxation, have been identified as "emerging districts of concern." They are concentrated in the seven states/union territories of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana. "Udupi and Yadgir from Karnataka, along with Gurugram in Haryana and Kolhapur in Maharashtra have 90 per cent of the cases recorded after May 18," they said.

As on June 11 evening, Udupi had a total of 969 positive cases, out of which 619 are active, while 735 positive cases have been reported in Yadgir, out of which 626 are active. The two districts had reported a total of only 11 cases each as on May 18. While Udupi till last evening had seen 349 discharges, it was 108 in Yadgir.

Both districts have reported one COVID related fatality so far. As of June 11 evening, cumulatively 6,245 COVID-19 positive cases were confirmed in the state, which included 72 deaths and 2,976 discharges.