K'taka govt says staff not at fault for birth of stillborn baby outside KC General Hosp

Coronavirus

The incident had led to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other opposition leaders asking the government to take action against the hospital staff.

TNM Staff

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A day after a 22-year-old Bengaluru woman delivered a stillborn baby inside an autorickshaw, parked at the KC General Hospital in Bengaluru, the state government issued a statement denying any wrongdoing on part of the hospital staff.  Dr Om Prakash Patil, Director of Health and Family Welfare Services Department on Tuesday issued a rejoinder on the issue reacting to the “adverse media reports” over the incident. He said that upon inquiry it was found that doctors or staff at the hospital were not at fault and there was no negligence on their part. The government rejoinder said, “An eight and a half months pregnant woman had visited the KC General hospital, at around 3.00 am on 20/7/2020 citing labour pains. The doctors & staff at KC General hospital have attended the pregnant women and found out that the baby inside the womb had no foetal heart sound implying intrauterine foetal demise. The same matter has been conveyed to the pregnant woman and her attendant.” It added, “However, they were not ready to believe it and proceed to Vanivilas Hospital for a second opinion, only to return back to KC General Hospital at 9.00 am in an advanced stage of labour. Doctors and staff have conducted the veginal delivery of the dead foetus. The paediatrician at KC General hospital who attended the labour call has opined that the baby has died at least two days prior to the time of delivery.” TNM on Tuesday had reported how Nivedha, a resident of Srirampura, had visited KC General Hospital at 2 am on Monday morning and was told by doctors there that her foetus was dead.  The family has however alleged that when they returned later in the morning after taking a second opinion, Nivedha and her mother were made to wait outside even though she was in unbearable pain and she was forced to deliver inside the autorickshaw. Venkateshiah, Medical Superintendent of KC General Hospital had told TNM that the doctors had observed fetal maceration, a sign that the baby died days ago. He also confirmed that the delivery had taken place in the autorickshaw.  The incident had led to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other opposition leaders asking the government to take action against the hospital staff.

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Iconic Bengaluru eatery Koshy’s closes temporarily amidst pandemic

Restaurants

The St Marks Road restaurant has become a Bengaluru institution and landmark for both young and old residents of the city.

Nikhita Venugopal

Bengaluru stalwart Koshy’s is temporarily closing down amidst the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the city, restaurant management confirmed. This is reportedly the first time that the decades-old restaurant on St Marks Road will close for a period of time.  Owner Prem Koshy told the Times of India that the eatery has remained open through thick and thin, even during wars, but due to the global pandemic and the worrying rise of cases in the city, this will be the first time that its doors will be closing.  Though some reports suggest that the restaurant may open in August, Santosh Koshy, who runs the restaurant with his brother Prem, told TNM that it could be longer depending upon the situation involving the coronavirus.  Prem told TOI that though they were open for a little over three weeks when the lockdown began to ease, there was low foot traffic and running the business amidst the precautions required proved to be challenging.  The St Marks Road restaurant has become a Bengaluru institution and landmark for both young and old residents of the city after it first opened its doors in the early 50s. The eatery has been run by the Koshy family since its inception, first as a bakery in 1940, following which the restaurant as its known today was built next door.  Koshy’s is best known for its breakfast offerings, such as sausage, bacon, baked beans on toasts and eggs cooked in various styles that harken back to its roots in post-colonial India. It also featured a popular Sunday lunch menu that drew many from across the city.  The restaurant, however, isn’t the first to shut its doors, either permanently or temporarily, as the pandemic continues to push businesses to the brink. Forage in Indiranagar has shut down, while Ebony and 13th Floor, Phobbidden Fruit and Veena Stores each announced they would suspend operations until the situation improved and people were able to dine out again. Read also: Bengaluru restaurants and bars: Here’s what has closed during lockdown    

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Bengaluru Unlock: BMTC to run 1500 buses daily between 6am-8pm

Unlock

BMTC said it will run buses only on major traffic routes barring containment zones.

PTI

With Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, on Tuesday, ruling out extension of the week-long shutdown in Bengaluru, the state-owned bus corporations said they will operate buses from Wednesday with precautions. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation(KSRTC) and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) announced they will operate the buses but in limited numbers with caution and restrictions. The KSRTC runs inter-district and inter-state buses, whereas the BMTC operates its buses in the Bengaluru municipal area, Bengaluru urban district and Bengaluru rural district. After the lockdown was imposed from July 14 to 22 morning, to check the spread of the Coronavirus, the two transport corporations had stopped their operations in Bengaluru. The BMTC said that it has decided to run only 1,500 buses initially only on major traffic routes barring containment zones. "Initially the BMTC will operate 1,500 services in Bengaluru city on major traffic routes, excluding containment zones. Services will be increased based on passenger traffic," the BMTC said in a press release. The transport corporation said its services will be operated between 6 am to 8 pm everyday as opposed to 5 am to 11 pm earlier. As part of its standard operating procedures, the transport corporations said the crew will wear face masks while on duty, use hand sanitisers and maintain hygiene. Buses will be stopped at the designated bus stops for boarding and deboarding. They said that face masks and social distancing will be mandatory for the passengers too.  If all the seats are occupied, passengers should not board the bus and wait for the next one to come, they added. No more than 30 passengers will be allowed inside the bus at one time.  While BTMC provided protective gear like masks and gloves for its own staff, it was made compulsory for commuters to wear masks. To minimise contact between staff and commuters, a QR code-based fare collection system and flat fare has been put in place as well. "KSRTC will start operations from tomorrow. Initially we will operate only 2,000 or 2,500 buses," a senior officer in the transport department told PTI. He added that the KSRTC and the BMTC put together might have incurred a revenue loss of about Rs 3,000 crore. The officer said the KSRTC had reduced its operations, especially the inter-state air-conditioned buses to Kerala and other neighbouring states and fully stopped its operation from March 24 to May 18. Since the lockdown was first announced in mid-March, BMTC had been running skeletal services only for essential workers. However, with the lockdowns regulations lifted in the subsequent days, BMTC resumed operations from May 19. 

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1,417 new containment zones in Bengaluru, total active at 9,815

Coronavirus

Bengaluru South continues to report the highest number of coronavirus cases.

TNM Staff

Bengaluru reported 1714 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with the city adding 1,417 new containment zones. This brings the total active containment zones to 9,815. A total of 11,638 containment zones have been reported in the city till date. Bengaluru South continues to have the most containment zones, followed by Bengaluru East, West, Bommanahalli, RR Nagara, Mahadevpura, Yelahanka, and Dasarahalli. Bengaluru South reported 27% of the new cases on Tuesday, followed by Bengaluru East (24%) and Bengaluru West (19%). A similar trend was observed for cases reported over the last 10 days in the city as well, with the south zone reporting 26% cases, followed by east and west zones. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palika COVID-19 War Room Bulletin generally also provides data on the zones which have reported over 50 cases since inception, as well as a list of wards reporting over 10 new cases in the last 24 hours. However, the July 21 bulletin did not have this data. One hundred and sixty out of 198 wards in Bengaluru have over 50 active cases as of July 21. Some of these wards are Ramamurthy Nagar, Malleshwaram, HAL Airport ward, Chickpete, Shantala Nagar, Koramangala, KR Market, Padrayanapura, Raja Rajeshwari Nagar, Chamrajpet, Begur, and Arekere, among others. Bengaluru, which had gone into a week-long lockdown, has been reporting marginally fewer cases per day for the last two days. From July 15 to July 19, the city reported over 2,000 new COVID-19 patients. In the last two days – July 20 and 21 – Bengaluru has reported 1,452 and 1,714 new cases respectively. The city reported 22 deaths due to COVID-19 on Tuesday as well as 250 recoveries. The total number of active cases in Bengaluru is at 26,746. In Karnataka, 44,140 people are undergoing treatment for COVID-19, while 25,459 people have been discharged following recovery. The death toll due to COVID-19 in the state stands at 1,464.

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Karnataka to regulate Remdesivir supply to private hospitals to curb black marketing

Coronavirus

Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K said that decision was in view of checking black marketing and hoarding of the drug.

TNM Staff

Karnataka's COVID-19 task force on Tuesday decided that the state government will regulate the supply of Remdesivir, the drug used in the treatment of coronavirus infected patients, to private hospitals. The move has been done to check black marketing and hoarding of the drug. "Remdesivir which is currently available in the government hospitals will be supplied to private hospitals through the government.This will help curb black marketing of this drug," Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar's office said in a release. In a clinical trial in the US, the antiviral drug has shown to reduce recovery time in COVID-19 patients. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has under Emergency Use authorisation allowed Remdesivir to be given to COVID-19 patients with moderate symptoms (those on oxygen).  In May, Indian pharmaceutical companies Mylan, Hetero, Cipla and Jubilant Life Sciences had entered into non-exclusive licensing agreements with US drug major Gilead Sciences Inc for manufacturing and distribution of Remdesivir. However, reports have emerged from across the country of the drug priced at Rs 5,400 being sold in the blackmarket at a price of Rs 15,000 to Rs 60,000. Following this, the Drug Controller  General of India (DCGI) had earlier in July asked states and union territories to keep a “strict vigil” to prevent black marketing of Remdesivir.   Along with Sudhakar, other task force members, including Health Minister Sriramulu, Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan and Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar attended the meeting.However Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai was not part of it as he was out of Bengaluru. At the meeting, the government has also fixed the rate for COVID-19 tests in private labs- Rs 2,000 for government referred cases and 3,000 for self-reporting cases. It was also decided to purchase 4 lakh antigen test kits and 5 lakh swab test kits to ramp up testing, the release said, adding that approvals have also been given for additional drugs for treatment of COVID -19 patients. The decisions also included increasing the monthly salary for AYUSH doctors to Rs 48,000, MBBS doctors to Rs 80,000 and nurses to Rs 30,000 for next six months. However, despite more than ten days of protests, Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers in Karnataka are yet to see their wages increased. ASHA workers are doing the task of conducting surveillance in households in the state including in containment areas. The task force also made it clear that private hospitals have to reserve 50% beds for the government for COVID-19 treatment. The remaining 50% can be used by the private hospitals for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 treatment. Private hospitals provide treatment under Ayushman Bharat scheme (ABARK) for COVID-19 patients. Those cases in which treatment does not cover under the scheme can be charged as per the user charges, the release said. A committee will be formed to supervise and recommend purchase of equipment and medicines for COVID-19 treatment, which will be headed by ACS, ITBT Department. Approval has been given for procurement of N-95 masks and one lakh PPE kits for the safety of healthcare workers. "Strict action will be initiated against private hospitals which charge more than the government fixed rates for COVID testing. Approval has been granted for purchase of equipment and upgradation of existing facilities at government hospitals at a cost of Rs 500 crore," the release from Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K's office stated.  Decision also has been taken to connect the oxygen pipeline to 4,736 beds in 17 government medical colleges, which will enable high flow oxygen for these beds besides being beneficial for future use as well. According to the release, 16 RT-PCR and 15 Automated RNA extraction units will be established to ramp up testing and this will help achieve the target of 50,000 tests per day.

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Bengaluru lockdown lifted but night curfew and Sunday lockdown remain

Lockdown

The Unlock 2.0 guidelines will be effective from 5 am on July 22 to July 31.

TNM Staff

With the nearly week-long lockdown in Bengaluru Urban and Rural coming to an end, the Karnataka government on Tuesday issued an order reimplementing Unlock 2.0 guidelines issued on June 30, under which there will be night curfew and Sunday lockdown. The order, signed by Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar, said night curfew would be from 9 pm to 5 am state-wide and that the lockdown on Sundays currently in place would continue. The order also restricts the use of gym equipment and sitting on benches in parks. It also said that vegetable markets, not only in Bengaluru, but also in district and taluk levels, would be relocated to large open spaces or Agricultural Produce Market Committees, with the aim of restricting crowds. The Unlock 2.0 guidelines will be effective from 5 am on July 22 to July 31. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, while making the announcement of the relaxation of the week-long lockdown, said that lockdowns are not the only solution to combat the spread of COVID-19. "I fold my hands and tell the people of this state that lockdown is not the only solution. The solution is wearing masks, maintaining distance and how strictly this is followed, it will help stop the spread of COVID-19," he said in his address.  Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts were under 'complete lockdown' from 8 pm on July 14 till 5 am on Wednesday. The lockdown was implemented amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in the city. Kalaburagi district of Karnataka which had extended lockdown in its district's municipal areas to July 27 has now withdrawn the order.  Karnataka reported 3,649 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday including 1714 patients testing positive in Bengaluru. Deaths related to COVID-19 went up to 720 in the capital city after 22 more patients succumbed.  The state is currently grappling with 44,140 active cases and has reported 1464 deaths. With PTI inputs

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Fauci: I was not invited to Trump’s coronavirus briefing

The nation’s top infectious disease expert said he had last spoken with the president late last week.

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