The comment by Moderna CEO Stephane Bancels reflects the urgent need to protect front-line workers against the growing pandemic.
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Karnataka releases flight details of 3 COVID-19 patients who landed in Mangaluru
The three patients arrived at the Mangaluru International Airport from Dubai.
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The Dakshina Kannada district administration confirmed that four people from Kerala who were isolated when they landed at the Mangaluru International Airport had tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday. Three of the four patients arrived at the Mangaluru International Airport from Dubai on March 19 and March 20. They were isolated at the Wenlock District Hospital after they were screened at the airport. One other patient arrived at the Kozhikode International Airport from Saudi Arabia on March 9 and was admitted at a private hospital in Mangaluru on March 20. The Dakshina Kannada district administration shared the details of the flights taken by the three patients who travelled from Dubai to Mangaluru. One of the patients, a man aged 47, arrived in the Air India Express (IX 814) flight at 5:00 am on March 19 while two other men, aged 32 and 23, arrived in Mangaluru in the Spicejet (SG-60) flight at 5:30 pm on March 20. The other patient is a 70-year-old woman who travelled from Saudi Arabia to Kozhikode by flight. All four patients are residents of Kasargod in Kerala and are currently isolated in hospitals in Mangaluru. Kasargod is just 56 km south of Mangaluru and travellers often take flights out of Mangaluru since the nearest airport in Kerala is in Kannur, 90 km away. All four patients will continue to be in isolation in Mangaluru. This takes the total number of COVID-19 cases in Dakshina Kannada to five after a man from Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district, who arrived at the Mangaluru International Airport from Dubai on March 19, tested positive. TNM had earlier reported how 63 COVID-19 cases in Kerala are people who returned to India from Gulf countries. Read: 63 COVID-19 cases in Kerala are people who came from Gulf, zone overlooked by India? The number of cases in Mangaluru increased to five at a time the state government is yet to set up a COVID-19 testing centre in the city. Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar, who has been handed full charge of matters related to COVID-19, had said on March 20 that a laboratory will be set up in Mangaluru to carry out COVID-19 tests. But as of Tuesday, it is yet to be operational in Dakshina Kannada. A private lab in Manipal in neighboring Udupi district was approved for COVID-19 testing on Tuesday. Currently, there are 27 people isolated in hospitals in Mangaluru while 2652 people are quarantined at home.
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Multiple bus rides, family trips, eateries: Where Kodagu's COVID-19 patient went
The health department has traced his movements since he arrived in Bengaluru from Dubai on March 15.
The Karnataka Health Department on Tuesday released the contact-tracing map of the 15th patient in the state— a man from Kodagu. The man visited a dargah, multiple restaurants at two different locations and also visited the homes of three of his relatives between the time he arrived from Dubai and the day he was isolated at a hospital in Madikeri. He also boarded multiple buses before he could reach his home town— Kodangeri in Kodagu. The man arrived in Bengaluru on March 15 via an Indigo flight (6E-96) from Dubai at 4pm. At 5 pm the same day, he came out of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIAL) and visited the Chai Point outlet outside the airport and spent 30 minutes there. At 5.30 pm, he boarded a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) Vayu Vajra bus KA57F0908 from the KIAL to Kengeri Satellite Town Bus Stop. At 7 pm the same day, he reached the bus stop and deposited his luggage in the cloak room. Between 7 pm and 9 pm, the man boarded a BMTC bus and visited Hotel Albek, located near Halli Mane in Malleshwaram 8th Cross and was there for an hour while having dinner. He returned to the Kengeri Satellite Town Bus Stop at around 9.30 pm via another BMTC bus. He went to the cloak room, picked up his luggage and boarded the Rajahamsa bus KA21F0231 to Murnadu. At 2.30 am on March 16, he reached the Mysuru Bus Stop. He boarded another bus at 5.30 am and reached Murnadu. The man then hailed an auto at the Murnadu bus stop and reached his home in Kodangeri at around 6 am on Monday. At around 10 am, he visited the Kodangeri dargah and he also stopped by a shop near the local government school grounds, where kids were playing, and then returned home. Between 11.30 am and 12.15 pm, he travelled from Kodangeri to his sister’s house in Davangere along with his family in his own car. By 1.30 pm, he picked up his sister and her two children, aged three and 15 years, and returned to Kodangeri. At around 2 pm, his family, along with his sister and two children, travelled to the Payameri Kunjila Dargah and participated in the prayers. They then visited a relative in Kunjila and spent time there till 5 pm. They visited another relative in Kunjila and stayed there for half an hour and returned to the home of the first relative. They stayed there till 7.30 pm. By 8.30, they returned to Kodangeri. On March 17, between 9.30 am and 10 am, he and his family went to Davangere to drop off his sister and her children. He travelled back to Murnad and picked up his friend on the way and dropped him at the Madikeri Old Bus Stand and reached the district hospital by 11.30 am. Section 144 was imposed on March 19 in Davangere. However, the Health Department had not revealed the reason back then. So far, 38 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Karnataka, of which one person has died. Karnataka is under a lockdown with the government suspending the movement of people and vehicles between the 30 districts. All commercial establishments have been shut, except for those selling essential commodities like groceries and water. Schools and colleges have also been shut and employees in all offices have been asked to work from home except for those handling essential services.
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Karnataka Health Minister Sriramulu will not be in charge of COVID-19 cases, here’s why
Governor Vajubhai Vala on Tuesday signed off on a notification which reallocated portfolios and Sriramulu was discharged of responsibilities in tackling COVID-19.
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Games of one-upmanship are not uncommon in politics, even in the times of a pandemic it seems. Karnataka Minister for Health and Family Welfare, B Sriramulu was discharged from his duties in handling the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday. Governor Vajubhai Vala signed off on a notification that reallocated the duty to none other than his detractor within the BJP - Dr K Sudhakar. B Sriramulu will retain the health portfolio and has also been allotted the Ministry for Backward Classes Welfare. However, his health portfolio excludes all matters related to COVID-19. These responsibilities have now been handed over to Minister for Medical Education, Dr K Sudhakar. Though the decision seems to have been taken keeping in mind the interests of the state, what lead to it was Sriramulu's lack of understanding about public health. In the past few days, the media had also witnenessed a game of one-upmanship about who would be at the forefront of efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. This tussle in the backdrop of the COVID-19 outbreak in Karnataka, began in early March when the state reported its first case in Bengaluru, a BJP leader said. The tussle became evident to many when Sriramulu and his team began vying for more screen space during press conferences. Both Sriramulu and Sudhakar have separate media teams too. “In many instances, Sudhakar, a medical doctor, has been the one to speak at press meets and Sriramulu had to remain silent. This angered him. He demanded that he be allocated another portfolio if the party wanted to put Sudhakar at the forefront of tackling COVID-19,” the BJP source said. While the party leadership in Karnataka decided to make Dr K Sudhakar, as the government’s spokesperson on all things related to COVID-19, sources in the BJP say that this did not bode well with Sriramulu. Since he was allocated the portfolio in August 2019, Sriramulu has been unhappy. He had on multiple occasions openly aired his displeasure of being allocated the health portfolio despite specifically asking his partymen to not put him in charge of it. With the number of COVID-19 cases increasing in Karnataka, sources in the BJP say that Sriramulu was not able to handle the heat. “Sudhakar on the other hand is a doctor. He understands issues related to health and is qualified to tackle the situation. The party decided to put him in charge of the COVID-19 cases and its management,” the BJP leader said. This, party insiders say, has upset Sriramulu as he feels he was undercut by Sudhakar, who was until last year a member of the BJP’s archrivals -- the Congress. Sudhakar was one of the 17 MLAs, who resigned, which led to the fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka. “Sudhakar is gaining a lot of attention in a short span and this has irked Sriramulu,” the leader said.
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‘My symptoms were distinct,’ Google techie who recovered from COVID-19 tells TNM
The techie speaks to TNM about his initial symptoms, psychological pressure and how his wife came under target.
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Karan*, known as the ‘Google techie’ in the media, returned home on March 19 after a week at Bengaluru’s Jayanagar General Hospital, where he was in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. He has now recovered, but the 10 days prior to that were a rollercoaster ride for him — he returned from his honeymoon, got diagnosed with COVID-19 and his wife was threatened for allegedly “running away” from the city. Karan and his wife went on their honeymoon to Greece and Switzerland, and returned to Mumbai on March 6 to spend the weekend with his parents. The travel advisory issued by the Indian government at that point did not mention anything about passengers from these countries requiring quarantine. From Mumbai, the couple came back to Bengaluru on March 8, and his wife headed to Agra to be with her parents for Holi. However, their special trip turned into an ordeal for both of them. Karan returned to work as usual but what started as a headache escalated to fever and sore throat soon. “Two days in, cough, headache and body ache started. If I had to explain the body ache, I’d say it feels as if the blood pressure has increased at random points in your body. Medicines helped me cope with the symptoms,” Karan tells TNM. On the first day, Karan put his symptoms down to existing conditions, but 2-3 days in, he says the symptoms were quite distinct, and he realised that this was not a seasonal flu. But, he acknowledges that the early assessment was not easy. “The fever was quite high (102.5 degrees). I attributed it to my tonsillitis issue, I get the same symptoms when seasons change. However, I was advised at the airport to go for screening in case I observed any symptom, so I went. Luckily, the infection was caught at an early stage,” he says. After going in for a test on March 10, he was informed on March 11 that his test reports seemed ‘doubtful’, and that he needed to be admitted to a hospital. An ambulance arrived and took him to the testing site, and another one later took him to the hospital where he was kept in an isolation ward. The very next day — March 12 — Karan was confirmed to be positive for COVID-19. “The registration at the Jayanagar Hospital did not take long as the doctor had already completed most of the formalities. I was taken to the isolation ward within 10 minutes. The days in isolation, the only people who were allowed to come in contact with me were the hospital staff. For non-essential things, we used to communicate over the phone,” he says. Hospital staff were also helpful and cooperative, and some even went out of their way to make patients feel better, he says. “Hygiene was not an issue at the Jayanagar General Hospital. The isolation wards were clean. Cleaning used to happen every day. I was provided with hand wash, hand sanitiser and face masks. There were dustbins in the ward. So the hygiene was overall good,” he says. Contrary to the perception that hospital food is bland, Karan says that the food he was served was quite good and the portion size was also adequate. The menu was as follows: 7 am: Milk and bread 10 am: Dosa/idli with coffee 1 pm: Rice and dal/gravy, eggs, milk, banana 5 pm: Tea and bread/biscuit 8pm: Rice and dal/gravy, eggs Karan’s only access to the outside world was the hospital staff and his phone, which he says was a lifesaver thanks to social media. “I spent a lot of time sleeping or contemplating different aspects of my life. Other times, I would video call family members. Also, I got a lot of calls from friends, colleagues and relatives inquiring about my health and wishing me a speedy recovery. At the same time, I tried to lift the morale of my wife who was a little disturbed because of all that was happening,” he says. Karan admits that there was a lot of psychological pressure, firstly because of all the unknown things related to this virus. “I hadn't fallen that sick earlier and wasn't sure how long it would take to recover,” he says. But, there were other things as well. On the day he tested positive, his wife (who was in Agra) and her family were also tested for coronavirus. A false media report which went viral stated that she had “fled” from Bengaluru, leading to an online witch hunt. The Karnataka government later confirmed that she didn’t flee over the fear of coronavirus, she had gone to Agra much before her husband tested positive. The hospital she was taken to in Agra on March 12 was unhygienic, and the family said that they took the doctor’s permission to leave the hospital after giving an assurance that they would remain in home isolation. On March 13, the wife was moved to an isolation ward as a precautionary measure. However, the Agra police have filed an FIR against the woman’s father for allegedly hiding her details. “When my wife showed me the pictures of the Agra isolation ward (12th March - her samples were collected and reports were awaited), I got worried that she would fall sick by staying there. However, after the initial report came and she was suspected to be positive, she was shifted to a different hospital which was better,” he says. Comments that the family, and Karan’s wife in particular, started receiving after the viral false report only made things worse. That, he says, had an impact psychologically. “Thankfully, friends and Google came to the rescue. Later on, the Karnataka government also issued a clarification. It got better post that,” he says. On March 15, his wife also tested positive for COVID-19. Karan is one of the two people who have recovered from COVID-19 in Karnataka, a state which has so far had 37 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. He must remain in home quarantine for 14 days, and is currently working from home. *name changed to protect identity Read: ‘Very stressed, not what we need at this time’: Brother of Google techie who has COVID-19 to TNM
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Five more COVID-19 patients in Karnataka take state count up to 38
The police said that 50 squads have been formed to monitor persons under home quarantine and so far 3 cases of people violating home quarantine have been reported.
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Five news cases of COVID-19 were reported in Karnataka taking the state’s tally of positive cases to 38. According to the Karnataka Health Department three of the cases in Karnataka were of people who were travelling from Dubai to Kerala via Karnataka. A 32-year-old resident of Kasaragod in Kerala was tested positive. He had a travel history to Dubai and arrived in Mangaluru on March 20. He was quarantined at the Mangaluru International Airport and is currently under isolation at a hospital in the city. A 40-year man and a resident of Uttara Kannada district was tested positive on Tuesday. He too had travelled to Dubai and arrived in India on March 21. He has been isolated and is being treated in Uttara Kannada district. Another traveller to return from Dubai is a 65-years-old man who arrived in Mumbai on March 18 and travelled to Uttara Kannada via train. He has been isolated at a hospital in the district. A 56-year-old woman and resident of Chikkaballapura, also tested positive. She is the co-passenger of patient number 19 and 22. These were passengers who travelled from Mecca in Saudi Arabia and later to Chikkaballapura. The 56-year-old woman travelled from Saudi Arabia to Hyderabad on march 14. She has been isolated at the district hospital in Chikkaballapura. In Bengaluru, another 56-year-old woman who came into contact with patient number 13 -- the 25-year-old woman who travelled from Spain to Bengaluru -- was also found to be positive for the virus. The Health Department has also set up 50 home quarantine surveillance squads in Bangalore Urban, Bengaluru Rural and within Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike limits to monitor those under home quarantine. The squad will comprise a driver with a private vehicle, one Ayush Doctor, and a police officer with wireless phone, and will be stationed at the local police stations. The members of the squads have been given personal protection equipment, and will be managed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Isha Pant. The squad’s phones will be linked to the health helpline and police helpline numbers. As and when they receive complaints of individuals in home quarantine stepping out, they will be intimated. The squad will then pick up violators and send them to a government quarantine centre. The Ayush Doctor will file a complaint and an FIR will be registered against the violator. “So far 3 persons, who violated the home quarantine advice have been apprehended and isolated. The details are a woman found roaming around in Lakshmidevamma Block, two people who returned from Australia and were living in Ulsoor. They have been escorted to the designated home quarantine facility,” the health department said in a release. The Chief Secretary of Karnataka, Vijay Bhaskar on Monday announced a lockdown of the entire state. Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been imposed in Bengaluru. Grocery shops and those establishments selling essential commodities can remain open, while the rest have been ordered to shut down. Take away from restaurants has been banned. However, online food orders via food delivery apps can be accepted by restaurants.
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COVID-19: Ensure hygiene, ration and financial security for us, sanitation workers write to PM
In a letter to the PM, the Alliance of Indian Wastepickers (AIW) have asked him to ensure their safety as they are the first lines of defence against the spread of the disease.
In an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a coalition of organisations of waste pickers and sanitation workers has reiterated their demand for guarantee of basic hygiene facilities and income in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The letter, by the Alliance of Indian Wastepickers (AIW) asks the PM to ensure their safety as they are the first lines of defence against the spread of the disease, and presents a list of 7 demands made by the workers. This includes a basic emergency monthly income of Rs 10,000 for every household, rations, and compensation to their families, such as that given to victims of rail accidents, in case of fatality related to COVID-19. AIW is a coalition of organisations that represent waste pickers and sanitation workers from 10 states across the country, and has more than 45,000 members. They said, “We the members of the Alliance of Indian Wastepickers, welcome your address to the nation given on 19th March 2020, where you called sanitation workers defenders of the nation. For earning our livelihood, we waste-pickers and informal waste collectors have been keeping our cities and towns clean. In the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are working diligently. Even though the prices of the commodities i.e. waste paper, plastic, cardboard, junk and metal have gone down significantly, we have not left our work.” “As defenders, we are equally vulnerable to contracting the disease ourselves. Due to the nature of the work, many of our colleagues -- waste-pickers and informal waste collectors -- have low immunity. We earn our livelihood on a day to day basis, this does not leave us with the luxury of working from home. In the times of pandemic, when we must wash our hands with soaps but we do not have access to regular and clean water,” they demanded. The seven demands of the associations have been reproduced below: 1. Provisioning occupational safety gears - good quality masks, gloves, towels, shoes to all the waste-pickers and informal waste collectors. All urban and rural local bodies, resident and apartment welfare associations should be directed to make them available at all times. 2. All urban and rural local bodies, as well as resident and apartment welfare associations, should be asked to make necessary arrangements for waste-pickers and informal waste collectors to wash their hands. The provision of sanitisers for workers where washing of hands is not possible must be made mandatory. 3. With the waste material markets collapsing across the country, there has been a loss of income. We request that all waste-pickers and informal waste collectors be given emergency basic income of INR 10,000 per month per household. 4. Similarly, ration (including grains, soap/hand sanitizer, oil, sugar and salt) which can sustain the waste-pickers and informal waste collectors and their families and all residents of the slums and other informal settlements, for the next three months should be given immediately, without the requirement of biometrics via the Public Distribution System. The government must take action against the price rise of essential commodities, food items and medicines. 5. The settlements of waste-pickers and informal waste collectors are densely populated and the residents highly vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19, we strongly recommend that the government should arrange regular health camps for screening and medication purposes in all the slums and other informal settlements. 6. There must be an immediate suspension of all eviction, demolitions and urgent regularisation of all our settlements. Measures should be taken for providing clean water, electricity and sanitation in our settlements. Charges for using public toilets and urinals should be removed and the toilets and urinals are cleaned regularly. They should be equipped with soaps, refilled every day by the local bodies, or resident/apartment complexes. 7. In case of fatality related to COVID-19, the compensation similar to the one is given for rail accident casualties or for the onsite death of a construction worker or INR 10,00,000 should be given to next of kin as demanded by many informal (unorganised) workers unions.
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