Mungaaru male for Karnataka: Thunderstorms predicted this week

Weather

According to information received from the Karnataka meteorological department, parts of Bengaluru South saw scattered showers on Wednesday evening.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

Pixabay

Here is some refreshing news for Bengalureans and all people living in south Karnataka: the weatherman predicts rain on Thursday evening and in the following week. After a hot month of March which gave the state temperatures of up to 40 degree Celsius, the skies are finally abating to bring some relief. According to a release from the Indian Meteorological Department, on April 9 evening and April 10 morning there is a thunderstorm warning for Ballari, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Chamrajanagar, Chikkaballapura, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Kolar, Mandya ,Tumakuru, Mysuru, and Ramanagara districts of South Interior Karnataka. The bulletin notes that thunderstorms will be accompanied by lightning, and advises that people stay indoors during the period. On April 11, Saturday, the IMD predicts that there will be thunderstorms and gusty winds in isolated placed across the aforementioned districts in South Interior Karnataka: Ballari, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Chamrajanagar, Chikkaballapura, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Kolar, Mandya ,Tumakuru, Mysuru, and Ramanagara districts. This will be followed by two days during which the weatherman predicts no rain. On April 14, Tuesday, IMD predicts that there will be thunderstorms accompanied with lightning in isolated places over Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Kodagu and Shivamogga districts of South Interior Karnataka. According to information received from the Karnataka meteorological department, parts of Bengaluru South saw scattered showers on Wednesday evening. South India sees a series of showers before monsoon, called pre-monsoon showers, or April showers. Mungaaru Male, as they are referred to fondly in Kannada, gave inspiration to a hit song, which came out in 2011 and is still played to evoke the charming feeling of the rains.

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Democrats seek hazard pay for health workers amid pandemic

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said a so-called Heroes Fund could compensate nurses, EMTs and other workers for unanticipated risks.

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Video: Karnataka panchayat bans and ostracises Muslims over COVID-19 stigma

In a video, a man is seen beating a drum and saying that Muslims cannot enter the village.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

In Ankanahalli village in Ramanagara district of Karnataka, a communally divisive message has begun to spread even as the lockdown continues. In a video which has since gone viral, a man is seen beating a drum and saying, “Listen everyone! The Gram panchayat (local village administration) is making this announcement. No Muslims (Sahibs) should come into the village. No one should work for Muslims. If you do, you should pay a fine of Rs 500 to Rs 1000.” As the video has become viral, the local police were forced to take action. The police have booked the gram panchayat head, Mahesh, for spreading the communal message.   Communal tensions in rural Karnataka are rising. Announcement in Ramnagar district: Muslims are not allowed in the village. No one is allowed to work for them. If you do, pay a fine of Rs 500,1000. pic.twitter.com/gPBPraED5P — Alithea Stephanie Mounika//ಅಲಿತ್ಯ ಮೌನಿಕಾ (@alitheasm) April 9, 2020   Mahesh, the president of the gram panchayat had held a meeting with the other gram panchayati members and then the order was passed, the local police told TNM. While Mahesh is absconding, the police have arrested two others, Rajesh, the person who made the video and made it viral on Facebook and Whatsapp, as well as Ramaiah, the person who was hired to beat the drums and make the announcement to the public. Ramaiah went on foot to make the announcement to those who come under the Ankanahalli gram panchayat. Communal tensions have flared up in many parts of Karnataka after inflammatory media reports that coronavirus was being 'spread by Muslims', following a meeting held by the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, held at Delhi’s Nizamuddin. This is despite the fact that only 3 percent of the active cases of COVID-19 in Karnataka were originally those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat meeting, according to government data. The rest are from people who returned from foreign countries, and their immediate contacts. The numbers vary from state to state and in states like Tamil Nadu for instance, a large number of attendees have tested positive for COVID-19. The gram panchayat has passed the anti-Muslim order despite Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa warning that stern action would be taken against those who make communally divisive messages regarding the coronavirus pandemic. He had said that coronavirus does not have a particular caste or religion, but infects everyone. TNM had previously reported that Muslim volunteers distributing food packets to those adversely by the lockdown in Bengaluru were heckled and harassed. In another incident in Bagalkote district, locals humiliated some visibly Muslim men for fishing. They made the Muslims beg with folded hands for them to be let off. Read: COVID-19: Muslims and Muslim volunteers heckled, harassed in Karnataka

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Karnataka HC asks govt to give details about COVID-19 healthcare infra in state

Coronavirus

This follows reports of hospitals treating COVID-19 patients, and ASHA workers not being provided with sufficient protection.

TNM Staff

Courtesy: PTI

Following a petition from a private individual, the High Court of Karnataka has asked the state government to submit a detailed report regarding the availability of healthcare infrastructure in the state by April 9, Thursday. The court also asked the state government to immediately respond to instances of violence against health workers who are doing their job. The Hindu reported that the Karnataka High Court has asked for details of district wise data of isolation beds, ICUs (intensive care unit) with ventilators available for COVID-19 patients, and also up-to-date numbers of the positive cases per district. The court also asked for details on the availability of masks, PPE (personal protective equipment) and alcohol-based sanitisers at the hospitals run by the state, reported the Times of India. Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka headed the division bench for this order. These developments follow two e-mails to the High Court. One petition was emailed by an individual named Dr Rajiv Ramesh Gothe, about the series of attacks against ASHA workers in the state, who were out doing their duty, collecting data about coronavirus patients. The second was The High Court was also responding to an e-mail letter from the Department of Pathology in the ESI hospital in Kalaburagi, where a COVID-19 patient passed away. In her email, the head of department of Pathology, Dr Zeenath, had said that the doctors and hospital staff in the Kalaburagi hospital were “not even provided with masks,” and were thus at risk of contracting COVID-19 themselves, while treating affected patients. There has been a growing mistrust against the ASHA workers in Karnataka as TNM had previously reported. ASHA workers who had gone to the districts to collect data for a health-related government survey were turned away, as they were mistakenly assumed to be collecting data for the much contested Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens. Read: Amid CAA-NRC fears, residents turn away health workers on mosquito survey in Karnataka

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Video of child calling for her nurse mother in Belagavi goes viral, CM writes to nurse

Coronavirus

Missing her mother, the girl seated on a two-wheeler with her father was seen waving and crying as the nurse stood at a distance away from the entrance of the hospital.

TNM Staff

'They also serve who only stand and wait' - Milton's line is often quoted in the context of war to highlight the sacrifices of those who may not be at the battlefield but still serve by waiting for their heroes to return. In the war against coronavirus, it is doctors, nurses and health workers who are at the forefront, waging a battle against an enemy they cannot see. And their families, which have to do without their presence for days together, also serve - including this three-year-old whose mother is a nurse at a hospital in Karnataka. Little Aishwarya had not seen her mother Sugandha Korikoppa for 15 days and would ask everyone who passed by their home if they'd seen her. As the days passed and there was no sign of her mother, the child became disturbed and refused to even eat. Finally, her father brought her to the Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences in north Karnataka on his bike, duly masked. Her mother stood outside the hospital with her colleagues at a safe distance, trying to speak to Aishwarya through her tears. But though the child called out to her and pleaded with her to come closer - "Mummy vaa!" -- Sugandha had to stand where she was. The heart-rending visuals went viral, with several on social media commending the nurse for her efforts. It also prompted Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to call the nurse on Wednesday and appreciate her dedication. "You are struggling and working very hard without even seeing your children. I saw it on TV. Kindly cooperate. You will have better opportunities in the future. I'll look out for you. God bless you, and I hope your hard work does you well", Yediyurappa can be heard telling Sunanda over the phone call, a recording of which was released to the media. Later, in a letter addressed to the nurse, the Chief Minister recalled the selfless service of doctors, nurses, ASHA (health) workers, police, civic workers, and government employees who are working like her to stop the spread of COVID-19. Assuring that he would look into the concerns of healthcare workers raised by Sugandha during the telephone conversation, Yediyurappa in the letter said that resolving these issues was the government's priority, and that he will personally look into it once the COVID-19 situation came under control, the release said. So far, 8 coronavirus cases have been reported in Belagavi district of Karnataka.  With inputs from PTI

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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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