COVID-19: Liquor stores in Bengaluru to be closed till March 31

Coronavirus

Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner GN Shivamurthy stated that liquor stores will remain shut till March 31 irrespective of the license held by them.

Prajwal Bhat

All liquor stores in Bengaluru will remain closed until March 31 following the lockdown announced by the Karnataka government in the wake of the spread of coronavirus. This order was issued on Monday and will come into effect immediately. In a notification issued on Monday, Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner GN Shivamurthy stated that liquor stores, bars, pubs, and restaurants will remain closed till March 31 irrespective of the license held by them.   "The decision has been taken in the interest of public health and to ensure that coronavirus does not spread from person to person," read a notice issued by GN Shivamurthy, Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru Urban. Retail liquor stores with CL-2 and CL-11(C) licenses were earlier exempted from the shutdown enforced in the city. They have now been directed to close down immediately.    While the notice states that the order is effective immediately, some liquor stores remained open in Bengaluru on Monday sparking a rush for stocking up alcohol. An official told TNM that the order was "already enforced" and that liquor stores will be directed to shut down on Monday itself.  The decision to close down liquor comes after a partial lockdown was announced in nine districts of Karnataka including in Bengaluru. The other districts are Bengaluru Rural, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Belagavi, Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Chikkaballapura, and Mysuru. Bars, pubs and other establishments selling alcohol were earlier notified to be shut on March 13.  The state has reported 27 cases of COVID-19 so far. 

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/33Fc1kR
via IFTTT

COVID-19: Free food for daily wage workers at Indira Canteens in Bengaluru

Coronavirus

There are 191 Indira Canteens in a total of 198 wards in Bengaluru.

TNM Staff

Daily wage workers and others from economically weaker sections will be served free meals at Indira Canteens in Bengaluru throughout the day, the state government has announced. This comes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday told reporters that this arrangement will be in place until further orders.  Indira Canteens, introduced in 2017-18 budget by the then Siddaramaiah-led state government, was aimed at giving subsidised meals to the urban poor in every ward. According to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), there are 191 Indira Canteens spread across 198 wards of the city.  BBMP Commissioner BH Anil Kumar has also tweeted, confirming the free meals scheme.  Further CM Yediyurappa has warned that those disobeying the lockdown orders in the state will be dealt with strictly. A detailed government order will be issued later in the evening if the restrictions are strengthened further.  In an order passed by the government on Sunday, nine districts in Karnataka including rural and urban Bengaluru were put under a stringent lockdown until March 31. The other districts where this applies include Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Dharwad, Chikkaballapura, Kodagu and Belagavi.  As part of this, all commercial activities have been asked to be shut down and only essential commodities like medicines, milk, fish, vegetables and meat are to be sold. Further on Sunday, the state government also decided to close its borders with the neighbouring states to restrict inter-state movement of people. Karnataka has a common border with Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Intra-district and interstate bus and railway services have been shut till the end of the month. The Namme Metro in Bengaluru will also not run from 10 am to 4 pm till March 31. A partial shutdown had already been in effect in Karnataka from March 16, under which all educational institutes, malls, theaters, bars were ordered to be shut.  People living in cities and towns have been advised not to visit their villages in the state or other states. (With IANS inputs)    

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2UnBL0M
via IFTTT

Mysuru man who returned from Dubai tests positive for COVID-19: Karnataka tally at 27

Coronavirus

The other 26 positive cases were reported across seven districts.

Soumya Chatterjee

The number of positive cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Karnataka rose to 27, with authorities confirming a patient from Mysuru contracting the disease. District authorities said that the patient, a 46-year-old man had recently returned from Dubai and is presently being treated at the Mysuru designated hospital. Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Sekhar confirmed the development and said the patient was admitted in KR (Krishna Rajendra) Hospital since Sunday. Incidentally, this is the second case from the district. The past 26 positive cases were reported across seven districts with Bengaluru seeing 17 cases. Kalaburagi had three cases, while districts of Mysuru, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada and Kodagu having one case each. Chikkaballapura registered another two cases. Among them a total of five patients who have recovered are slated to be sent home from government hospitals. As of Sunday evening, Karnataka Health Department said a total of 1,27,609 passengers have been screened and among them 10219 persons were enrolled for observation. A total of 1387 people were tested in the state and another 253 test results were pending with 1108 patients testing negative. A total of 3,390 persons have been put in home quarantine while 135 persons are under observation in designated government hospitals. Meanwhile, the national tally of positive cases is upto 415 as of Monday afternoon including 7 deaths. Incidentally the first death case of the country was reported from the state’s Kalaburagi district. The 76-year-old man had returned from Saudi Arabia and succumbed to co-morbidities. As a part of the state government’s plan to mitigate the crisis, the Health Bulletin said Victoria Hospital with all its annexes having 1700 beds has been directed to be converted into special hospital regarding COVID-19. Government will support the shifting of all the in patients who are undergoing treatment presently in victoria hospital to other places.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/3bgTcHl
via IFTTT

For Obamacare’s next act, look to the history books

The law turning 10 on Monday could follow the path of the three major entitlements, which have all grown significantly since their inception.

from Health Care https://ift.tt/2WBrr89
via IFTTT

Karnataka to procure 1000 new ventilators, 5 lakh hazmat suits to fight COVID-19

Coronavirus

Health Department officials say that the state currently has around 800 ventilators including those in private hospitals.

TNM Staff

Karnataka's Minister for Health and Family Welfare, B Sriramulu on Monday said that the government has decided to procure 1,000 new ventilators and five lakh Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) suits in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. Minister Sriramulu and Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan held a meeting with officials from various district administrations on Monday via video conference and have decided to procure 1,000 new ventilators for the state," Sriramulu said in a tweet.  The Health Department officials said that the government is planning to procure the equipment from a Mysuru-based company -- Scan Ray. "The government has already initiated measures to procure 10 lakh new masks and 5 lakh PPE kits. The Health Department is tackling the situation on a war footing. I request all the people of the state to practise social distancing," Sriramulu said in a tweet.  Health Department officials had earlier told TNM that the state has a total of 800 ventilators including those in private hospitals. The total number of ventilators in government hospitals is just over 400.  "In many places like Hyderabad-Karnataka region, especially in Bidar, Raichur and Kalaburagi, the number of ventilators available is very low. Bengaluru has the most number of ventilators followed by Mysuru. Since most of the patients with COVID-19 across the world suffer from difficulty in breathing, it is necessary to procure the equipment," an official said.  As on Sunday evening, Karnataka reported 26 positive cases of COVID-19. Nine districts including Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad, Chikkaballapura, Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Mysuru and Kodagu, are affected. Commercial establishments except for those selling essential commodities will remain shut till March 31. The state has closed off its borders with other districts and has also begun screening domestic passengers at the Kempegowda International Airport.     

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2xg7RUs
via IFTTT

Centre approves new private laboratory in Karnataka for COVID-19 testing

Coronvirus

The Central government put out a notification approving a total of six new private labs across three states to test samples for COVID-19.

TNM Staff

  The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has put out a notification regarding six new private laboratories including one in Karnataka, being accorded approval to test for COVID-19. The ICMR comes under the Department of Health, Government of India. The notification states that these approved private labs are in three states viz. Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The lab in Karnataka is located in Bengaluru, and is called Neuberg Anand Reference Laboratory. Present in the centre of the city, the lab is located near Bowring and Lady Curzon hospital in Shivajinagar.  There are four private testing labs in Mumbai, even as 18 cases of coronavirus in the city were confirmed, and the local government there is trying to keep the city under lockdown to combat its spread. The private labs in Mumbai are: Thyrocare, Suburban Diagnostics, Metropolis Healthcare Limited, and Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre. In Ahmedabad, one laboratory was approved viz. Unipath Specialty Laboratory Limited. This comes even as concerns have been raised at the lack of adequate tests being conducted in the country. There has been a lack of facilities in the country compared to the need, with the government even turning down people who were possibly exposed to the virus, but displayed no symptoms, for the lack of testing kits and facilities. #CoronavirusOutbreak #covidindia #COVID #COVID19 updated numbers#india is already in stage 3. V are not doing testing enough for numbers to shown up. globally cases are increasing in tens of thousands in a day. Soon it will touch 50k  #CoronavirusPandemic in #Europe https://t.co/gxyyQUcqo6 pic.twitter.com/wbvkOLbbRx — Nitin kumar (@nitinkumar1976) March 23, 2020 Meanwhile, the government issued a notification on Saturday night that private labs can conduct tests for COVID-19, but ‘recommends’ that the tests should not cost more than Rs 4500. READ: Centre allows pvt labs to test for coronavirus, places price cap of Rs 4,500 per test However, users on Twitter pointed out the prohibitive cost of the tests and said that it cannot be afforded by the poor in the country. Govt sets max cap of Rs 4500 for #Covid19India tests in Pvt labs. "Encourages" free or subsidised testing! Rs 4500 is monthly income of scores of Indians. This isn't d time to request, it's time to ensure d poor & vulnerable are taken care of. pic.twitter.com/G3S9gUZLI4 — Anusha Ravi Sood (@anusharavi10) March 21, 2020 Will every pvt lab when billing write which company's test kit being used? Imported test kits not available as all countries have locked down exports. Why should pvt labs be allowed to charge Rs 4500 when Indian test kits are to cost Rs 500-700? So, Rs 4000 margin on every test? — Rema Nagarajan (@RemaNagarajan) March 22, 2020

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2y2t1px
via IFTTT

Texas orders hospitals to cancel elective surgeries, deploys Guard

Governor has grown increasingly aggressive in responding to the pandemic.

from Health Care https://ift.tt/39f74Aq
via IFTTT