Secure checkposts, stringent lockdowns: What K’taka districts without COVID-19 cases are doing

Coronavirus

Many of these districts have formed village-level committees to ensure that restrictions are imposed and awareness is created to prevent the spread of the virus.

Soumya Chatterjee

Representation photo

As the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 rises in Karnataka and rest of the country, some district administrations are on an overdrive to ensure there are no positive cases in their districts. As of Wednesday, 12 districts in Karnataka— Raichur, Yadgir, Koppal, Haveri, Koppal, Chitradurga, Vijayapura, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Hassan, Chamarajanagar, Ramanagara— have no cases. Among them Raichur, Yadgir, Vijayapura, Chamarajanagar and Ramanagara are border states. While Raichur and Yadgir share their border with Telangana, Vijayapura opens to Maharashtra and Chamarajanagar and Ramanagara shares a border with Tamil Nadu. Top district officials TNM spoke to said that they were ‘working on war-footing to ensure social distancing and other precautionary measures are being followed’ ever since Chief MInister BS Yediyurappa ordered a partial statewide lockdown on March 14. Speaking with TNM, YS Patil, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Vijayapura said, “Basically, before the nationwide lockdown, we had already started working on the Chief Minister’s lockdown orders as issued on March 13. So we enforced protocols under the District Disaster Management Authority and formed guidelines with respect to what should be allowed and what should not be done. Secondly, we took measures to create awareness both at the village-level and within cities through camps. Further directions were given to quarantine those who came back from foreign countries. We identified around 42,000 people who came from outside the district, be it other districts within or outside the state. We quarantined all of them. That is the major difference between other districts.” The DC added, “To ensure all of this, we made village-level committees where gram panchayat presidents, village accountants, beat police staff, ASHA (accredited social health activists) workers and anganwadi workers were made members. These committees were tasked with visiting these people and ensuring that quarantine procedures were followed. This was important as many in the district regularly work or travel back from Maharashtra. We have strictly sealed all 26 border checkposts and there are police, health and revenue officials guarding each of them.” He further said that when groups of people came back together, including families, the district administration ensured temporary arrangements for people to stay outside villages. He said block level officers were ensuring that those in need of financial assistance were provided with food essentials with support from charitable organisations.  Similarly, Chikkamagaluru district officials said that they had complied with the lockdown and not allowed any non-residents or non-essential services. “We have quarantined 272 people who had come from outside the district since March 14 and we are ensuring that there is adequate supply of three-layer masks and sanitisers. There have been almost no people in transit since mid-March. To ensure that the lockdown is enforced, we have formed 15 committees and established seven checkposts to regulate goods vehicles,” HL Nagaraj, Additional Deputy Commissioner, said. He added, “Further, all provisional stores have been asked to give time slots to people and all have been told to maintain social distancing. A local police staff has been asked to ensure social distancing is maintained in every beat area.” Yadgir district officials said that they are following the guidelines issued by state and central government authorities.    “We have set up 15 border checkposts and those are working effectively. Anyone coming from outside the district is being screened. If there are any symptoms, we are taking their samples for testing and putting them in government-run quarantine facilities; otherwise, they are put in home quarantine,” Prakash G Rajput, Additional Deputy Commissioner, said.  

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Karnataka reports 6th COVID-19 death, 80-yr-old woman with respiratory infection dies

Coronavirus

The woman was the first person in Karnataka’s Gadag district to test positive for SARS-Cov-2.

TNM Staff

PTI/Representation Photo

An 80-year-old COVID-19 patient from Karnataka's Gadag district died in the early hours of Thursday. Gadag Deputy Commissioner Hiremath said that the woman suffered a cardiac arrest at around 12.55 am on Thursday.  This takes the total death toll due to COVID-19 in the state to six. This is the first COVID-19-related death in Gadag district. DC Hiremath said that she was the first patient from the district to test positive too.  The woman was undergoing treatment for severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) in isolation at the Gadag Institute of Medical Sciences. She was admitted to the isolation ward on Monday after she had trouble breathing. Her sample was taken and she was tested positive on Tuesday.  "The doctors at GIMS were initially surprised to see her begin to recover on Tuesday evening itself. She was moving by herself. Yesterday (April 8) too, she seemed to be doing better in the morning. She was not on a ventilator and was on oxygen support. We had a lot of hope for her," DC Hiremath added.  DC Hiremath further stated that 51 contacts of the woman have been traced, including her family members (He did not say how many of them were family members). Of the 51 contacts, 42 have tested negative. The remaining test results are awaited.  "We have quarantined all 51. They will be at the quarantine centre for 14 days as a precautionary measure," he added. With this, till date, two people with a history of SARI have succumbed to COVID-19. A 65-year-old fruit vendor from Kalaburagi died on Tuesday night. He too had a history of SARI.  As on Thursday, the Karnataka government said that 6 out of the 181 patients, who tested positive have SARI, including two patients from Mysuru, who were part of the cluster of positive cases related to the pharmaceutical company in Nanjangud.  “One of them had pneumonia. They are doing fine now. We are still collating data on the number of people with SARI who were tested. We will announce it soon,” Jawaid Akthar, Principal Secretary of Health and Family Welfare said.  Of the six people with SARI, two have died. The other four are currently undergoing treatment.  He further stated that rapid testing kits are expected to arrive by next week and the state government would conduct 65,000 randomised tests to determine whether there is community spread or not.   

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Bengaluru airport filled with parked aircraft as flights grounded amid lockdown

Coronavirus

This comes as hundreds of domestic and overseas flights have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

TNM Staff

The Bengaluru airport has turned into a boneyard—a place where retired aircraft are parked permanently, with several passenger aircraft being grounded due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown in the country since March 25, the operator said on Wednesday. With hundreds of domestic and overseas flights being cancelled since the lockdown, the aircraft are grounded for now, at the Bengaluru International airport in Devanahalli, which is located about 40 km from the city centre. Several aircraft of different airlines are parked in two long rows on the tarmac abutting the runway, with the famous Nandi Hills being visible in the backdrop. These aerial shots, taken from the air traffic control (ATC) building, show a forlorn airport, the iconic building visible in the pictures shared by the airport staff. The airport is now bereft of any people, which otherwise would have been teeming with thousands of flyers arriving and departing, and several cars which come to pick up the air passengers crisscrossing. pic Some of the parked aircraft belonged to IndiGo, Vistara, GoAir, Air India and others. The airport is accommodating more than 50 aircraft, mostly belonging to the domestic airlines, according to a spokesperson for the airport. The nationwide lockdown means that many people have had to cancel their flights, with no transportation between places as many states are not allowing any interstate travel, except for essential goods and services. pic It is not clear when this transportation lockdown will be lifted as various governments are planning to extend the lockdown in the COVID-19 hotspots in the country. The Karnataka government had previously said on Wednesday that they are in favour of keeping the lockdown in places that are hotspots of coronavirus activity. Bengaluru has been one of the hotspots of COVID-19 in Karnataka, besides Mysuru district and Belagavi. (With IANS inputs)

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Karnataka task force led by Devi Shetty suggests extension of lockdown in hotspots

Coronavirus

The task force has recommended the closure of educational institutions till May 30 and the restrictions on metro, buses, trains and flights until April 30.

TNM Staff

A task force headed by Dr Devi Shetty, a cardiac surgeon, has called for the lockdown to be continued in hotspots where COVID-19 cases have been reported.  The task force constituted to look into the lockdown in the state also recommended that restrictions on transportation including metro, buses, trains and flight continue until April 30, and that only the transportation of goods be allowed. The committee, however, recommended auto rickshaws to be allowed. An odd-even system for transportation in private vehicles was also recommended. The other recommendations include the closure of educational institutions till May 30, Information Technology, Bio Technology and garment industries working at 50% strength, and encouragement of online classes.  The members of the taskforce include Dr.CN Majunath, Dr. Nagaraj, Dr. Ravi and Sudharshan, and the report prepared by them was submitted to the state government on Wednesday. States like Kerala and Karnataka will send their expert committee reports to the Central government ahead of a meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 11 to discuss the lockdown in effect in the country. Following the meeting, the next course of action in Karnataka will be announced, one of the members of the expert committee told TNM. Recommendations in full · Goods and Transportation should be allowed, passenger carriers should be banned till further orders · Educational institutes should be closed till May 30. · Online classes should be encouraged. · All industries, IT, BT and Garments should be made to work on 50% strength. · Construction workers should be allowed to work on sites at 50% strength. · Garment workers should be allowed to stitch Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which are in more demand. · COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients should be segregated. . Online health services should be encouraged. · Rapid test kits will arrive on April 12. This will boost our facility and help us in quarantining the more suspected groups. · Restrictions should be minimised in districts where there are nil or  minimum cases. · Lockdown should be continued in hotspot areas. · Quarantine  measures should be strictly implemented. · No buses, train flights till  april 30. · No metro Train till April 30. Autorickshaws should be allowed. ·   Odd-even system transport system should implemented  

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WHO chief calls for 'unity' after Trump funding threat

“With unity, with solidarity, at a national level and global level, resources will not be a problem,” Tedros said.

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In favour of lifting lockdown in 12 districts with no COVID-19 cases: Yediyurappa

Coronavirus

Chief Minister Yediyurappa said the state would also look at relaxing liquor sales to increase revenues.

PTI

The Karnataka government is in favour of lifting the lockdown in districts which remained free of coronavirus, subject to approval from the Centre, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said on Wednesday. Noting that the state's revenue collections have stopped, he said the legislators would take a 30% salary cut and only important budget proposals would be implemented. In an interview to PTI, he also said the state intended to relax liquor sales, stopped since the 21-day lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 after April 14 in a bid to increase state revenues. According to officials, there were no COVID-19 cases in 12 districts of the total 30 districts in the state. As on Wednesday, there were 181 COVID-19 cases in the state, including five deaths and 28 discharges. Over a third of the cases (63) are from Bengaluru city alone.  "If the Prime Minister suggests to states to take decisions (on lockdown) based on the situation in their respective states, my position is to take a call (on roll-back) in districts free from COVID-19," Yediyurappa said. "This is to allow people to go about their business and move about within the district and not from one district to another, after April 14, after taking the approval of the Prime Minister," he said. The government has a fear that if the lockdown was lifted in districts where there were a high number of COVID-19 cases, it would spread on a large scale, the Chief Minister said. “You just can't even imagine,” Yediyurappa remarked on the economic impact of the lockdown on the state's finances, saying the government was now not in a position to implement the budget proposals, barring the important measures. Yediyurappa said all kinds of revenue collections have completely stopped following the lockdown, adding, he was discussing with experts and Cabinet colleagues on a road-map for the state to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. The government would take up only those proposals which were "necessary and inevitable", he said. "Other things, we have to stop for the next 5-6 months. It's inevitable. There is shortage of funds at the central and state levels." The Chief Minister said implementation of the lockdown in the state has been to the tune of 85-90%. On resuming liquor sales, he said the government wanted to relax it to help increase revenue collection. "It's (also) difficult to control those who are habituated to liquor,” Yediyurappa remarked. He said since Bengaluru was deserted now following the lockdown, instructions have been issued to take up road works in the city in a day or two. On the move for cut in salary of legislators, Yediyurappa said a meeting of the Cabinet has been convened for Thursday, where the formal decision for 30%t reduction would be taken. Asked if government employees would also take a salary cut, the Chief Minister said: “We have not given a thought. Let’s see, we will discuss in the Cabinet depending on the situation. This month we have given salary to government employees, coming month what situation we face, let's wait and see." Karnataka Congress on Tuesday vehemently opposed any possible move to cut salaries of government employees. Yediyurappa had earlier indicated such a course given the state's precarious financial condition following the lockdown due to coronavirus.  

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4 with severe acute respiratory illness in Karnataka test positive for coronavirus

Coronavirus

The Karnataka government on Tuesday issued revised protocols for testing and this included people with history of SARI, who have been hospitalised.

Theja Ram

PTI/Representation Photo

Karnataka reported another death due to COVID-19 on Wednesday. The state Health Department said that patient number 177, a 65-year-old man from Kalaburagi with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) died on Tuesday night. He was tested positive for SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19 on Wednesday morning.  As of April 8, according to the daily bulletins released by the state, four patients in Karnataka (including the man who died) who had been admitted with respiratory infections have tested positive for the coronavirus.  While the Indian Council of Medical Research, the apex health research body, had on March 20 revised testing guidelines to include patients hospitalised with SARI, it was only April 7 that the  Karnataka government issued a notification for the same. Karnataka will also test patients with influenza-like illnesses (ILI) in containment zones using the rapid antibody test kits.  Speaking to TNM, Manjunath, program officer for COVID-19 cases in Karnataka said that the state was still collating data. “We are still collating data on how many SARI patients were tested across the 18 districts that have reported coronavirus cases. But out of the 181 people who tested positive, 4 had a history of SARI and three patients are currently on the ventilator,” Manjunath added.  We can determine whether community transmission of COVID-19 exists only by testing more people, who are admitted to the hospital with respiratory ailments and no travel history, Dr Nagaraj, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases in Bengaluru said. “Patients may have influenza-type of symptoms and also have a history of SARI,” he added.  According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, any person who develops “an unusual or unexpected clinical course, especially sudden deterioration despite appropriate treatment, without regard to place of residence or history of travel,” must be tested for SARS-Cov-2. It also states that anyone with prior respiratory illness, regardless of travel history, must be tested.  SARI patients with COVID-19 so far Kalaburagi district officials told TNM that the 65-year-old man, a fruit vendor in Kalaburagi near the Santhraswadi bus stop, developed fever on April 4 and went to the Bahmani Hospital. He started having trouble breathing on April 6 after which the doctors at the private hospital transferred him to the ESI Hospital in Kalaburagi, the government-designated hospital to isolate COVID-19 patients. He was put on the ventilator on Tuesday and the doctors at the ESI Hospital took the man’s samples and sent it for testing. However, the man died on Tuesday evening. He was tested positive for SARS-Cov-2 after his death. Bahmani Hospital has been locked down and the medical team that treated the man has been quarantined. So far 20 primary contacts have been traced and quarantined at ESI Hospital.  The Kalaburagi district officials said they have issued a notice to Bahmani Hospitals management for “criminal negligence”. “The hospital should have sent the man directly to ESI Hospital instead of keeping him there,” Dr Sharanabasappa said. He further stated that the district’s health officials are in the process of filing a police complaint against the hospital’s management.  According to Kalaburagi Taluk Health Officer Dr Sharanabasappa, the officials are still in the process of identifying the man’s movements. “We don’t know whether he traveled abroad yet. We are still tracing all his contacts and movements,” he added. Another SARI patient is an 80-year-old woman from Gadag with no travel history. She was admitted to the district government hospital when she had trouble breathing. She was diagnosed with SARI and her samples were sent for testing. She was tested positive on Tuesday. 52 of her primary contacts have been traced and isolated as well.  The other two cases include a 52-year-old man from Kalaburagi with a history of SARI, who was tested positive on Tuesday. He too was admitted to the hospital after showing signs of breathlessness.  On Wednesday, a 26-year-old woman from Uttara Kannada with a history of SARI also tested positive for  SARS-Cov-2.   

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