IAF’s air strike inside Pakistan triggers ‘nationalistic fervour’ in Mangaluru

Bengaluru, May 22: The Karnataka government, which has fixed Rs 200 as fine for not wearing masks and covering faces to contain coronavirus spread, has collected Rs 3.43 lakh from 15,000 people as fine from May 5 till date.

"From May 5, the government has collected Rs 3,43,000 by fining 1,715 citizens for nor wearing masks or covering their faces," the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) Commissioner said in a statement.

Here is a zone-wise chart showing fines that have been collected:

Meanwhile, Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said the state has reached its target of scaling up to 10,000 tests per day by conducting 11,499 tests on Thursday. In Kalaburagi, where the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the State, conducted over 1000 tests yesterday.

"By conducting 11,449 COVID-19 tests yesterday, we reached our target of scaling up to 10,000 tests per day Kalaburagi that saw the first COVID-19 case in the state conducted over 1000 tests yesterday," Sudhakar said.

As per the Union Health Ministry, Karnataka has 1,605 positive cases, of which 571 have been recovered and discharged and 41 have succumbed to the infection.

New Delhi, Apr 4: The Supreme Court on Friday urged Karnataka and Kerala to amicably resolve their issues concerning a border blockade that has choked the free flow of vehicles carrying essential items and patients in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Karnataka, which imposed the blockade, justified that its border was sealed to “combat the spread of the pandemic by preventing the movement of people from the bordering districts of Kerala to Karnataka”.

The State had moved the Supreme Court, challenging a Kerala High Court order on April 1 to open the border. Kerala has countered that patients from the State cannot be denied access to health care. Besides, the blockade has severely affected the supply of essential items, from medicines to food, to Kerala.

On Friday, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Deepak Gupta urged the States to not confront each other in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis. Instead, it asked the Chief Secretaries of both States to sit with the Union Health Secretary and iron out a solution. Meanwhile, the apex court urged Kerala not to take any precipitative action based on the High Court order.

The court issued notice to Kerala on the appeal filed by Karnataka, represented by advocate Shubhranshu Padhi. It listed the case for further hearing on April 7.

Karnataka, in its appeal against the High Court order, said the blockade was put in place in the interest of public health. The situation regarding Coronavirus was “really dire”, it said. It warned that opening the blockade would cause a law and order issue as its local population wanted the border to remain sealed.

Karnataka argued that Kerala was the “worst-affected” State in the country with nearly 194 coronavirus cases. In this, Kasaragod, adjoining Karnataka, was the “worst affected” district of Kerala with over a 100 positive cases.

MP’s plea

The court also separately considered a writ petition by Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan for an order to forthwith open the State border.

The parliamentarian, represented by advocates Haris Beeran and Pallavi Pratap, urged the court to issue an ex-parte stay on the operation of the blockade imposed by Karnataka with its border States.

Mr. Unnithan said Karnataka’s blockade was “ill-planned and dangerous” and had led to loss of lives. Two patients from Kerala, in need of urgent medical care, died after their ambulances were denied entry at the border by the Karnataka authorities. 

Bengaluru, Jul 7: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday held a meeting with a team of officials from the Union Health Ministry in Bengaluru in view of COVID-19 pandemic.

The team of Union Health Ministry officials praised the state's COVID-19 management measures.

Arti Ahuja, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health, EMR director Ravindran met the Chief Minister during a two-day visit to the state. The team praised the State Government's efforts to gather information and identify co-morbid figures for the control of COVID-19.

During the meeting, it was discussed that in the following days, priority should be given to prevent death from COVID-19 and to provide adequate treatment for symptomatic infections.

In addition, Central team officials suggested that the COVID-19 guidelines should be followed in containment zones.

Officials informed about the steps being taken to treat COVID infected people in the state and stated that the High Flow Oxygen System is being implemented in all district hospitals and taluk hospitals in the state.  The process will be completed by August 15.

Health Minister B. Sriramulu, Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar, Chief Secretary to Government Vijayabhaskar and other senior officials were present during the meeting.