Sabarimala row: Hartal called in Kerala after senior Sangh Parivar leader's arrest

Bengaluru, Mar 10: Three more positive COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Karnataka taking the tally to four, state Health Minister B Sriramulu on Tuesday informed.

"Their family members have been isolated and their health is being monitored. I urge citizens to take precautionary measures and co-operate in preventing the spread of this infection," Sriramulu said.

As on Monday, the national tally of persons affected by the coronavirus is 45.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in the past 24 hours, one positive case from Kerala, two from Pune, and three from Bengaluru have been confirmed.

Apart from the ICMR; National Institute of Virology in Pune; 51 Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories; and National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi are carrying out tests for COVID-19.

Tirupati, Feb 12: A middle-aged man committed suicide out of fear that he was infected with the dreaded Coronavirus (COVID-19), which has killed over 1000 in China. The deceased identified as Balakrishna (50) was suffering from hypertension. He killed self, after being discharged from hospital, fearing it would spread to his family.  The incident happened in Chittoor district on Monday but came to light only on Tuesday.

Balakrishna was treated in Tirupati last week and told that he had an infection. After two days in the hospital, he got better and returned to his village in Chittoor district on Sunday. But fearing that he was infected with COVID-19, Balakrishna isolated himself from his family. Before committing suicide, he surfed many videos about Coronavirus and also behaved weirdly with the family members by warning them against coming close to him.

“He remained aloof, saying he was infected with coronavirus and asked his family not to come near him. When they tried to approach him, he got agitated, threw stones at them and then locked himself in a room," district medical and health officer Dr M Penchalaiah said.

He was found hanging from a tree near his mother’s grave on the village outskirts. The tragic incident took place in Seshama Naidu Kandriga in Thottambedu block.

According to reports, he was suffering from cold and fever. He went to Tirupati hospital where doctors gave him medicines for viral infection and advised him to wear mask.  He wrongly thought he had coronavirus. However, doctors told Balakrishna he did not have coronavirus.

His son Balamurali said that his father panicked and started saying he needed to kill himself to keep other safe from him and coronavirus. “He began to pelt stones and things at us to keep us away from him,” Balamurali said.

“My father was all worried that the virus would spread to us. He hanged himself to save us,” Murali said.

Thottambedu police sub-inspector Venkata Subbaiah said no case was registered as the family refused to lodge a complaint. Till now, no Coronavirus case has been reported in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Mangaluru, May 2: Ibrahim Musliyar Bekal, a prominent Muslim religeous leader in coastal Karnataka has urged the Dakshina Kannada district administration not to end the covid-19 lockdown before the end of the blessed month of Ramadan. 

The appeal comes in the wake of reports that the state government may allow opening of clothe shops during the month of Ramadan to felicitate Muslims for Eid shopping.

"Muslims in the district have completely cooperated with the district administration in making the lockdown sucessfull. They have refrained from going to mosque even for Juma and Taraveeh during Ramadan. Such a lockdown is necessary to contain the pandemic," said Musliyar, who is also the Khazi of Udupi and Chikkamagaluru.

If the district administration withdraws lockdwon or relaxes it, people in large numbers may storm cloth shops wherein it physical distancing will be difficult, Musliyar warned.

He said that Muslims in the region have decided to observe Eid ul Fitr, a festival which marks the end of the blessed month, in a simple way maintaining physical distance. Hence the lockdown should be relaxed only after the festival, he suggested.