Four Karnataka journalists quarantined after interviewing family of COVID-19 victim

Coronavirus

The head of one of the channels has sent an email asking journalists in other locations not to interview patients or relatives.

TNM Staff

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4 persons-  reporters and camera persons- working with multiple news organisations in Kalaburagi district of Karnataka were quarantined on Saturday after interviewing the family of the 76-year-old man who was recorded as India's first coronavirus death. "4 people have come in contact with the primary contacts. Therefore, as per Government of India's medical precautionary directions, they have been asked to be at home," Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Sharat B said.  The interview of the son of the coronavirus linked death in Kalaburagi was posted by Gulbarga Live, However, a reporter at Gulbarga Live told TNM that they did not shoot the video with the family but only received the video from another reporter.  The reporters and camera persons who came in contact with the family are currently in isolation at their residences.  The head of one of the channels has sent an email asking journalists in other locations not to interview patients or relatives. The 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi was confirmed as India's first coronavirus linked death on Thursday. Following his death, officials from the Health and Family Welfare Department stated that the family of the man discharged him from a private hospital in Kalaburagi and shifted him to a private hospital in Hyderabad against medical advice.  However, this was contested by the son of the victim who said that health officials did not inform him that his father could have contracted coronavirus and that there is a laboratory for testing coronavirus samples in Kalaburagi itself.  The Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Kalaburagi houses one of the laboratories where samples are being tested for coronavirus.   

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Local officials: We’re not ready

Fears of a lack of ventilators and critical care hospital beds plague preparations for an influx of coronavirus patients.

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'No one told us he could have COVID-19': Son of Karnataka man who died contradicts govt

Coronavirus

The family has been accused by the Karnataka government of moving the patient to Hyderabad against their advice.

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"My family members and little children were there to see their grandfather when he was sick. Why would I put the health of my family at risk?” asks the 51-year-old son of the man from Kalaburagi in Karnataka, who died on March 10 and was later found to be positive for COVID-19. Speaking to TNM via telephone, the 76-year-old man’s son says he has a lot of unanswered questions about his father’s death and has demanded that the Karnataka Health Department clarify his doubts. The family has been accused by the Karnataka government of moving the patient to Hyderabad against their advice. The 76-year-old man, with travel history to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, landed in the airport in Hyderabad on February 29. He returned to Kalaburagi on the same night. He fell sick on March 6 and was visited by a family physician. His health deteriorated on March 8 and on the morning of March 9, he was taken to Sunrise Hospital in Kalaburagi. Karnataka Health Department says they insisted that the patient's family took him to a hospital in Hyderabad and went against their advice to keep him at an isolation ward in Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences. However, the man's son says that none of the doctors informed him that his father could have contracted COVID-19. “Since March 9, when my sister, brother-in-law and I took my father to Sunrise Hospital, no one said the word coronavirus. He already had health problems so we thought it was something related to that. It was only after we brought him back to Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) that I realised that he could have been infected. We did tell the doctors he had travelled to Saudi Arabia," says the son. He is one of the 22 family members of the deceased man, who are currently lodged in one ward at the ESI Hospital in Kalaburagi. On Friday morning, officials with the Karnataka Health Department in Kalaburagi district contacted him and informed him that he and his family will be kept in isolation at the hospital for the next three days.  “At around 8 am yesterday (Friday), the officials came and moved us to the ESI Hospital. We have been here since then. They are giving us food and water but the place is very unhygienic and no one has come to clean the place since we moved here. The doctors said that cleaning staff are on strike for better pay. No one has cleaned the ward. The hospital is not hygienic,” the 76-year-old man’s son told TNM.  He says that he, his wife and two daughters aged 14 and 5 years along with 18 other family members have all been lodged in one ward, where each has been allotted a separate bed.  Several family members, who have been quarantined, say that the family is unable to bear the mental agony. “The health department is helping us now. They are giving us food and water. But the place is dirty and unhygienic. There is a one-month-old baby here. We now have 10 children in this ward and they are all scared. If the hospital cannot maintain hygienic conditions, they should at least let us be in home isolation. They took our samples yesterday. Some of my relatives had a cold. Now they have been given medicine and are fine,” he added.  He says that the family went through a harrowing time in Hyderabad. The deceased patient’s son says that the Director of Sunrise Hospital insisted that his father be taken to a hospital in Hyderabad as soon as possible. “We went to four hospitals in Hyderabad first to Code Narrow Hospital. They asked us to go to Gandhi Hospital. We waited at Gandhi Hospital for a long time hoping someone will attend to our case but no one did. Then we took him to Apollo Hospital. They too asked us to go to Gandhi Hospital. Then we took him to the Care Hospital,” he said.  It was when he was in Care Hospital that the Karnataka government gave him a call, asking him to return to Kalaburagi.  When he returned on the night of March 10, he was declared brought dead at Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, the son alleges.  “No one even spoke the word coronavirus to us until it was too late. Everyone kept saying my father’s condition is critical. If the doctors had explained to us what was happening, we would have taken him to GIMS at once. No one gave us this information. I found out that my father could have died because of coronavirus when I got a call on March 10. At this point, we were on our way to GIMS. The health officials said that he could have coronavirus. That was the first time someone mentioned it to me,” he said.  He further stated that after the burial, the officials had advised them to stay under home isolation. “Media says my father died of coronavirus. No one has given us a report or even told us what happened to my father. We only want some answers. I am asking the health department officials to understand our plight when we are grieving for my father. Please let us be under home quarantine since the hospital is not being cleaned. I don’t want to put the health of my other family members at risk,” he said.   

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Karnataka govt starts Telegram group to take coronavirus queries from public

Coronavirus

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The queries on the group varied from seeking information about the process to self-report and the labs where coronavirus testing is taking place.  The Karnataka government has decided to start an informal group on Telegram, an instant messaging platform, in a bid to answer queries from the public about the coronavirus.  "Do you have a question to ask the govt depts about Covid-19 and don't know whom to ask or 104 is busy? Please join this informal Telegram group: We will try to get answers for you. Experts on 'Covid19' are also invited to join," Secretary of the Karnataka Labour Department posted on social media. Covid-19: Karnataka: Do you have a question to ask the govt depts about Covid-19 and don't know whom to ask or 104 is busy? Please join this informal Telegram group: https://t.co/ppAchJGahp. We will try to get answers for you. Experts on 'Covid19' are also invited to join. — Captain Manivannan (@mani1972ias) March 13, 2020 As of Saturday morning 11.30 am, as many as 597 members had joined the group and were engaging with officials of the Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Department for information about the coronavirus. The queries on the group varied from seeking information about the process to self-report, the labs where coronavirus testing is taking place and about the steps taken by the government to trace contacts of those who have tested positive for the virus. "Officials are trying to guide the discussion on the group and it is helpful to ensure people do not come to their own conclusions and assume things about the virus that are not true," a member of the group said. A Telegram group can support up to 100,000 members. So far in Karnataka, six people have tested positive for the virus. This includes five people from Bengaluru and the first recorded death linked to coronavirus in India - a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi district. On Friday, health officials in Karnataka released information about the places visited by the six people who have tested positive so far. In Bengaluru, the COVID-19 positive patients visited a mall, a theatre, local shops and their offices.  “Public is requested to call 104 helpline and inform the department on their presence at the place and time mentioned. This will help us in better contact tracing and further transmission of novel coronavirus in the community,” the state government said in a statement to the media. Read: Mall, local store, theatre and office: Where the 6 COVID-19 patients in Karnataka went  

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RSS calls off Bengaluru convention after Karnataka bars public gatherings over COVID-19

Coronavirus

On Friday, the RSS had said that it was going ahead with the convention.

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The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has suspended the three-day annual meeting of its highest decision-making body scheduled to begin on Saturday, RSS General Secretary Suresh Joshi said. The annual meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) was to be held in Bengaluru from March 15-17 to decide on the organisation's future course of action. "In view of the seriousness of the pandemic COVID-19 and in the light of instructions and advisories thereof issued by the Union and the state governments, the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) meeting scheduled in Bengaluru has been suspended. All RSS workers should cooperate with administration to create awareness among public and to face this challenge successfully (sic)," the Sangh's Executive Head Joshi said in a statement. Statement by Sarakaryavah, Shri Suresh (Bhayyaji) Joshi : pic.twitter.com/ZA0DjLattE — RSS (@RSSorg) March 14, 2020 he Karnataka government on Friday announced that conferences and seminars cannot be held across the state for a week, starting Saturday. The RSS had on Friday evening said that the convention would continue in Bengaluru’s Vishwa Samvada Kendra, and that a thermal screening centre had been set up at the venue with 20 doctors. Thermal screening of attendees was taking place on Friday before they were allowed inside.  Meanwhile, the Karnataka Health Department on Friday announced that all malls, theatres, pubs, seminars, conventions and exhibitions would be shuttered for a week to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Colleges have been granted leave for seven days. Weddings, seminars, conventions and public gatherings have been banned for a week as well.  TNM had earlier reported the RSS's Prachar Pramukh (joint publicity chief) Narender Thakur saying that it was mandatory for all RSS workers, office bearers, media and other visitors to undergo screening before attending the ABPS meeting. “Security personnel and journalists covering the meeting will be screened,” he had said. With inputs from PTI

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COVID-19: Karnataka government to home deliver groceries to anganwadi students

The state government will home deliver raw materials to beneficiaries of the mid-day meal scheme at the respective anganwadis.

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Following the example set by Kerala, the Karnataka government too has decided to deliver groceries to the homes of children studying in anganwadis across the state as they will remain shut for the next one week.  The Department of Women and Child Development on Friday issued a notification stating that essential groceries would be home delivered.  “As a precautionary measure to avoid the spread of COVID-19, the state government had asked anganwadis in Bengaluru Urban and Rural to be shut between March 10 and March 17. This government decided on March 13 that anganwadis across the state would be shut for the next one week. In view of this, the state government will home deliver groceries to every beneficiary of the mid-day meal scheme at anganwadis,” the notification states.  The notification also states that the respective district administrations have been asked to take necessary steps to ensure that the groceries are delivered to the students’ homes as well.  Officials with the department told TNM that transporting cooked food is impractical and hence only raw materials would be home delivered.  The Kerala government has also started to home deliver groceries to suspected COVID-19 patients, who are under home quarantine in Pathanamthitta district. The district has nine people reported to have been infected and has the highest number of patients under home isolation. Many have lauded the Kerala government’s efforts to help anganwadi children and patients under home isolation in the fight against COVID-19. Till date 1,05,292 passengers have been screened in Karnataka. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday said that all malls, theatres, pubs and exhibitions across Karnataka will be shut for a week beginning Saturday to prevent spread of COVID-19. Marriages, conferences and large social gatherings have also been banned for the next one week. Offices have been advised to ask their employees to work from home. anganwadis and schools were declared shut on Thursday itself. However, college students have been given a seven-day leave as well.  Read: Malls, pubs, theatres shut, parties banned for a week across Karnataka over COVID-19. 

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COVID-19 isolation in K'taka may be limited to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases

Cornavirus

The Medical Education Minister also said that the state government has accepted Dr Devi Shetty and Sudha Murthy's proposal to help set up this separate facility in order to minimise risks.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka government has decided to set up isolation centres in one single hospital to quarantine suspected cases of COVID-19, and the Medical Education Department on Friday said that its Minister, K Sudhakar may very likely narrow in on the hospital at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases.  Minister Sudhakar had visited RGICD on Friday, interacted with patients and enquired about their health.  Dr Nagaraj, director of RGICD, told TNM that the institute had initially approached the state government with a petition that the hospital is the best one to house and treat COVID-19 patients and also keep them in isolation for observation. “Minister Sudhakar then decided to visit the facility before making the final decision,” he added.  He further said that RGICD has “well-trained doctors and staff to handle any medical emergency.” “We held a meeting with the minister and doctors to discuss why moving the patients out of RGICD is not advisable. The minister has taken this into consideration,” he added.  Speaking to TNM, Dr K Sudhakar said that he would announce the government’s decision on Saturday. He, however, stated that the state government has accepted the petition made by Dr Devi Shetty, founder of Narayana Health. “Dr Devi Shetty was there in the meeting today (Friday) to discuss precautionary measures and protocols. The government has accepted Dr Devi Shetty’s request to provide medical equipment. They are doing it out of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Funds and the state government appreciates it,” he added.  Infosys foundation chairman, Sudha Murthy wrote to the Karnataka government on Thursday stating that the company along with Devi Shetty would like to help ready a 500-bed hospital for tackling COVID-19. Sudha Murthy had suggested that Infosys could provide the civil works and Narayana Health would provide the equipment.  There have been six confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Karnataka including the 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi, who died on March 10. The state government on Friday said that all pubs, night clubs, bars, malls and theatres would be shut for one week as a precautionary measure. All college students have been given a seven-day leave and schools will be open only for exams for classes 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.  

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