Bengaluru pourakarmika dies of COVID-19, father says 8 hospitals had no ventilators

Coronavirus

The pourakarmika, Shilpa P, was unwell for two days before she was tested for coronavirus.

Prajwal Bhat

A candlelight vigil was held in Bengaluru by activists and sanitation workers on Friday evening protesting the death of a pourakarmika who had COVID-19.  The pourakarmika – 28-year-old Shilpa P – from Vishwanath Nagenahalli ward was unwell for two days before she was tested for coronavirus. Her father, Srinivas MC, spoke to TNM about the struggle of finding a hospital bed with a ventilator. "We desperately reached out to seven hospitals but we were refused admission. We were told that a ventilator is not available and asked us to find a hospital with a ventilator," says Srinivas. The test results returned positive on Wednesday and Shilpa was admitted to Dr BR Ambedkar Medical College in Bengaluru. However, her family says that they were unable to secure a hospital bed with a ventilator. "Ambedkar hospital had only one ventilator even though there are 250 COVID-19 beds here," alleges Srinivas.   Srinivas said that his daughter was experiencing breathlessness when she was admitted to the hospital.  Shilpa, who is a resident of Benson Town in the city, has been working as a pourakarmika for the last seven years. Her death has raised questions over the safety of sanitation workers in the city who are involved in handling waste on a regular basis.  The Karnataka High Court on Thursday called for randomised testing of pourakarmikas in Bengaluru. The High Court also urged the state government to appoint an officer – G Kumar Naik – to supervise the BBMP's work in implementing the standard operating procedure in containment zones. Kumar Naik is the Principal Secretary of the Social Welfare Department. Earlier in June, as many as 23 out of 80 pourakarmikas tested in Bengaluru's Deepanjali Nagar tested positive for the virus.  "The testing done among pourakarmikas should be increased and the patients who test positive should be admitted to hospitals by the BBMP. They deserve to receive treatment first," said Srinavas MC, Shilpa’s father. The BBMP Pourakarmikara Sangha, a union of working pourakarmikas in Bengaluru, has made repeated representations to the Karnataka High Court asking for personal protection equipment (PPE) to be given to sanitation workers. A protest was held on July 10 by pourakarmikas in locations across Bengaluru, where workers register their attendance, seeking protective equipment from the state government.  The union has also written to the BBMP asking for clarity on how many pourakarmikas have tested positive and how many have died in the city due to COVID-19. TNM reached out to several BBMP officials but they declined to comment on the issue.  "The BBMP has to clarify whether pourakarmikas are working in containment zones, and how waste from homes where people are isolated is being handled," said Vinay Sreenivasa, a Bengaluru-based lawyer and activist. He asked for the BBMP to also clarify how many pourakarmikas have been tested and whether they have been provided PPE kits. Randeep Dev, BBMP Special Commissioner, and Sarfaraz Khan, Joint Commissioner of the Solid Waste Department reached out to the Shilpa’s family and assured that the situation like this will not repeat again. 

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Bengalureans will buy cycles if you give them the infrastructure to ride: Experts

Transport

Panelists discussing urban mobility suggested that infrastructure would encourage people to make sustainable choices like walking or cycling.

TNM Staff

Photograph via Andrew Baptist

Panelists at the Sustainable Mobility summit recently discussed solutions for public transport in Bengaluru during the pandemic. Among the solutions discussed was the need to develop infrastructure that encourages people to take up cycling. "Building infrastructure encourages people to take that step of actually buying a bicycle," says Sathya Sankaran, Bengaluru's Bicycle Mayor The panelists suggested that infrastructure would encourage people to make sustainable choices like walking, cycling or using electric vehicles. "Money spent on bicycling by the government in a year is less than the cost of building a road and yet dedicated cycling paths can potentially cover only 20% of Bengaluru," Sathya added. The panelists included Sathya Sankaran, Bengaluru's Bicycle Mayor, Chetan Maini, co-founder of SUN-Mobility. and Rajeev Gowda, a former MP.  The summit was organised by the Bangalore International Centre.  Sathya, who heads Citizens for Sustainability, has already put bicycles to use during the lockdown. A volunteer group of 75 cycle riders came together to help deliver essentials to elderly citizens across the city. The group publicised helpline numbers and delivered grocery items and medicines. According to him, bicycles offer a solution to the fears of commuting during a pandemic.    A lockdown from 8 pm on July 14 to 5 am on July 22 has restricted movement once again in Bengaluru, prompting the city's residents to turn to internet-enabled mobility services at this time.  In addition, more than half of Bengaluru either walks or uses buses but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced buses to stop operating this week and residents of the city to stay indoors.    "If you make the city more walkable, or improve buses, it would create facilities for public transportation that more than half of the city's residents will use," Ashwin Mahesh, an urban expert in Bengaluru who moderated the discussion said.  A discussion on Urban Mobility held in June 2020 (From left to right - Rajeev Gowda, PC Mohan, Sowmya Reddy, Gangambike Mallikarjun) Chetan Maini called for more electric charging stations in the city to encourage more people to drive electric vehicles. "Infrastructure plays a big role in making people adopt sustainable transport. Scaling up electric charging stations in Bengaluru is one way of doing it," Chetan said.  He added that during the pandemic, cycling would be a risk-free and cost-effective way of travelling within Bengaluru.  Former MP Rajeev Gowda said that politicians are always open to implementing tangible ideas. "We are constantly looking for tangible ideas to be translated into policy. Organisations can come forward with a clear cut vision, money required and its impact," Rajeev said.  In an earlier discussion focused on internet-enabled mobility services, Geetanjali Swamy, Head of Legal and Public Policy at Dunzo, said that business can use technology to empower local communities, such as merchants, something that Dunzo has already been working on. 

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Bengaluru Police Commissioner goes into home quarantine after driver gets COVID-19

Coronavirus

Bhaskar Rao said he will get tested on Monday, his fifth test in recent months.

TNM Staff

Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao on Friday announced that he is going into home quarantine after his driver tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He said he will also get tested for the virus on Monday, for the fifth time in recent months.  “My driver is tested Corona positive, I have home quarantined myself for 4 days and will get myself tested again on Monday for the (5) fifth time since 3 months. I had to be in numerous inadvertent interactions with positive cases. Seek your good wishes, am not yet positive,” he tweeted.  My driver is tested Corona positive, I have home quarantined myself for 4 days and will get myself tested again on Monday for the (5) fifth time since 3 months. I had to be in numerous inadvertent interactions with positive cases. Seek your good wishes, am not yet positive !! — Bhaskar Rao IPS (@deepolice12) July 17, 2020 The news comes as many personnel in the city police are being affected by the spread of the virus. In an interview with TNM, Bhaskar Rao said that around 700 police staff had already contracted the infection and eight police officials in the city had lost their lives to COVID-19. Another 800 persons are home quarantined due to contact with infected persons. As a precautionary measure, he ordered all police department staff in the city who are above the age of 50 to work from home. Police have called for volunteers among the general public to help enforce lockdown procedures.  More than 13,470 people have registered as civil police wardens with the Bengaluru Police to assist in regulation. The volunteers registered from the eight divisions of the city.  "Outstanding work being done by the overwhelming number of Bengaluru civil police volunteers, they are unsparing. Policemen have become law abiding citizens," Rao said. The volunteers will accompany the policemen on night patrols, man check-posts, answer questions of the public and assist station house officers. They are also required to assist in documentation and computer work at the police station level, enforce social distancing and face masks among the public. (IANS inputs)

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Fake Twitter account of Karnataka minister assures grace marks for students, case filed

Fake news

The tweet by a fake handle, impersonating the Education Minister, claimed that the government was giving grace marks to students in the English exam.

TNM Staff

S Suresh Kumar on FB

The Bengaluru police have registered a case against unknown miscreants for sharing fake information about Pre-University exams in Karnataka, while pretending to be the official Twitter account of a state minister. A tweet dated July 13, which was shared from the fake account ‘@nimmasurrsh’, which was pretending to be Education minister S Suresh Kumar’s Twitter handle, claimed that the government was giving grace marks to students in the English exam.  The fake account carried the same picture as the minister’s official account, and had a similar display name as well. However, the official account -- @nimmasuresh, is a verified profile on Twitter, symbolised by a blue tick next to the handle’s name. The tweet from the fake account went viral, and screenshots of the tweet were shared on several groups on social media as well. The fake tweet read, “A lot of 2nd PUC students have been calling me since afternoon enquiring about the bugs and grace marks in English paper conducted on 18th June. A notice was already sent to all the evaluators to award a total of 26 grace marks in English paper, only if the student has attempted (sic).” On July, 14, the Minister had posted a screenshot of the viral tweet on his account, with the word ‘FAKE’ plastered across it. pic.twitter.com/0fILlMCSt8 — S.Suresh Kumar, Minister - Govt of Karnataka (@nimmasuresh) July 14, 2020 A complaint had also been filed with the police to ‘take action as is feasible under the law’ as it had caused ‘embarrassment’ to the Education Department. The Bengaluru North CEN (Cyber Crime, Economic Offences and Narcotics) police have now registered a case under Sections 420 (Cheating) and 505 (Public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), besides relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. CEN police stations were set up by the Bengaluru police to handle new-age crimes, which needed specialised investigators.

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CM Yediyurappa does not want Bengaluru lockdown extended, but the BBMP does

Coronavirus

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has sought a week’s extension to the current lockdown.

TNM Staff

Karnataka Chief BS Yediyurappa is opposed to extending the weeklong lockdown that has been put in place in Bengaluru since Tuesday 8 pm, even though the city civic body has asked for it, sources said. Speaking to ministers, Bengaluru MPs and senior bureaucrats in a meeting, the CM said that he was not in favour of extending the lockdown and added that an extension will not solve the present pandemic-induced crisis, a note from the CM’s office said. "Lockdown is not a solution to curb the spread of COVID-19; the state government has no plans of continuing the lockdown", the Chief Minister's statement said. Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Mayor Goutham Kumar said that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has requested the state government to extend the lockdown by another week. “People are still not aware and wandering outside their houses aimlessly. Keeping this in view, the government may extend the lockdown by a week to contain the spread of COVID-19,” news agency ANI quoted the Mayor as saying. Deccan Herald also quoted BBMP Commissioner BH Anil Kumar favouring a 14-day lockdown. He however added that it is the CM who will take a final call, while insisting that a 14-day window is essential to break the chain of the virus. Incidentally in an interview with TNM, City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao had said that the responsible attitude towards the lockdown regulations in the city had made the police’s job easier to implement norms. The lockdown for Bengaluru City along with Bengaluru Rural district was announced by the CM on July 11 citing that it was advised by experts to curb the COVID-19 infection spike in the city.  According to the Karnataka COVID-19 War Room report, Bengaluru has a positivity of 19.9% over the last 30 days compared to the statewide average of 10.8%.  The city has reported at least 1,000 cases daily since July 8. On Thursday, more than 2,000 cases were reported from Bengaluru taking the total number of active cases to 18,828. 

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The govt lost a controlled situation in Bengaluru: Cong MLA Rizwan Arshad to TNM

Interview

In an interview with TNM, the Congress MLA says that every constituency should have a testing centre.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

Bengaluru, once touted as the ‘model city’ for the management of coronavirus in the country, has now become one of the cities with some of the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the country. As of the July 16 bulletin, Bengaluru reported that it had 25,288 cases of coronavirus in the city, with 18,8827 active cases. The reason, according to Congress MLA from Shivajinagar Rizwan Arshad, is that the government was unprepared for the pandemic. “As I have been active in my constituency, I know where the government is losing track. They have lost a very controlled situation,” Rizwan tells TNM. “The time we got during the lockdown – the government became quite satisfied, because naturally, during the lockdown, the disease doesn’t spread. They neglected setting up infrastructure. They did not prepare themselves for the challenges, which they should have done in the two months of the lockdown,” he says. How Shivajinagar managed the pandemic While Rizwan Arshad’s constituency Shivajinagar was one of the first places in Bengaluru to see a high number of cases of COVID-19, today, it’s one of the places in the city where the disease is somewhat under control. “At the beginning of the pandemic, there were a few cases reported here, and the media would constantly cover the issue, as it is a minority dominated area. There was a lot of right-wing campaigning to malign the Muslim community here. For them, the virus was an opportunity to gain political points,” Rizwan alleges. “In Shivajinagar, doctors and nurses were staying in a chawl for isolation. There, one nurse tested positive. We decided to test all 85 people staying there, and out of those who were tested, 45 were positive,” the MLA recalls. “Luckily, we practiced a very stringent lockdown in that area,” he adds, “Even before testing, I was going around and distributing relief material. And therefore, the virus did not even spread beyond that one building.” “We have kept the historical Russel Market and Commercial Street area closed. Even after the lockdown was lifted, we called a meeting of the commercial establishments, and requested that they keep the shops closed, even during Eid, as it is a major hub for Eid shopping. We took a call to keep it closed as, if anything goes wrong, the whole area is blamed. The shopkeepers all cooperated. After Eid, we allowed them open phase by phase, after mentoring them on how to maintain distancing and marking off the shops,” he explains. “When the lockdown was lifted, the Russell Market and KR Market was opened on the same day. Now, Russell Market is still functioning, but the KR Market area has been closed. Both the markets operate on the same scale, attracting the same footfall. In KR Market, they allowed people to operate as they had done earlier. But in here, we gave them designated places to operate, and gave them timings. So we have segregated the crowd. All narrow markets were closed and brought to the main markets. We took steps to manage a thickly populated area,” Rizwan adds. The MLA also says that in Shivajinagar, they focussed on testing and quarantine efforts early. “After the lockdown of one particular block, we got the surroundings also tested. So, somewhere we have been better in managing it in our area is, we have been pushing for testing. It’s the only way to find out, through early detection of cases,” Rizwan says, as he points out that the government however has not tested enough. “The BBMP is not even testing people surrounding the place where a positive case is found, which is what has led to this surge in cases,” he says. ‘Decentralise pandemic management’ The MLA says that the centralised way in which the pandemic was being handled until recently, and the lack of communication between bureaucrats and elected officials is another key issue in the city. “The public comes directly to us (elected representatives) for any issue. Officials are not reachable to them, and they are not bothered because they are not answerable to the public,” Rizwan says. Further, the power struggle between ministers even during the time of a pandemic has left the public and elected officials helpless, he adds. “Sudhakar, Ashok, Ashwath Narayana...Every 15 days, there is a new man, with a new idea and a new approach. Who do we approach? So there is absolutely no coordination. It is not feasible to approach the Chief Minister for every issue,” he says. ‘Focus on health infrastructure’ The MLA also spoke about the need for permanent health infrastructure in the city. “I have been shouting about Bowring and Lady Curzon hospital in my constituency needing infrastructure for a long time. What has the government spent on permanent health infrastructure during such a big pandemic? What will remain after all this? They are not strengthening government hospital facilities across the state,” he says. “There are 28 Assembly constituencies, there should be 28 testing centres in the city,” he adds. “The Prime Minister, instead of asking people to diya jalao, thali bajao, he should have said, please come out, we are creating a pool of doctors, you are the army men today. We will stand by you, please come out and help the country. You talk of nationalism, they should have inspired medical professionals to come out to offer their services. Today, you are struggling to take control of private hospitals,” he said.

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Bengaluru COVID-19: 60-year-old patient dies by suicide in KC General Hospital

Coronavirus

This is the second such incident at KC General Hospital in north Bengaluru, where another suicide had occurred on June 26.

TNM Staff

Representational image

A 60-year-old woman in Bengaluru who was being treated for COVID-19 at a designated government hospital died by suicide on Friday morning, authorites said. This is the second such incident at KC General Hospital in north Bengaluru, where another suicide had occurred on June 26. According to a senior medical staff member at the hospital, “The incident came to light early in the morning around 5.30 am. It is unfortunate that this happened, she was on the path of recovery. She had mild symptoms. Two of her sons were also infected and were admitted here. One of them has been discharged already.” He added, “The woman like others was given psychiatric counselling. We are trying to find out more.”   In the previous incident,a 65-year-old woman had died under similar circumstances in the same hospital. She was also being treated with other members of her family.  In Bengaluru alone, there have been at least four cases where COVID-19 patients have died by suicide, including a police official of Karnataka State Reserve Police.  The first incident was reported on April 27 when a 50-year-old person was found dead at Victoria Hospital. If you are aware of anyone facing mental health issues or feeling suicidal, please provide help. Here are some helpline numbers of suicide-prevention organisations that can offer emotional support to individuals and families. Tamil Nadu State health department's suicide helpline: 104 Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre - 044-24640050 (listed as the sole suicide prevention helpline in Tamil Nadu) Andhra Pradesh Life Suicide Prevention: 78930 78930 Roshni: 9166202000, 9127848584 Karnataka Sahai (24-hour): 080 65000111, 080 65000222 Kerala Maithri: 0484 2540530 Chaithram: 0484 2361161 Both are 24-hour helpline numbers. Telangana State government's suicide prevention (tollfree): 104 Roshni: 040 66202000, 6620200 SEVA: 09441778290, 040 27504682 (between 9 am and 7 pm) Aasara offers support to individuals and families during an emotional crisis, for those dealing with mental health issues and suicidal ideation, and to those undergoing trauma after the suicide of a loved one.     24x7 Helpline: 9820466726  Click here for working helplines across India.

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