E-Paper
K’taka CM sets up Rs 200-cr fund as state battles three infections
Bengaluru
Bengaluru
Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa has announced that a Rs 200-crore fund has been set aside to combat the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak in the state and also the partial lockdown would be extended till March 31. The announcement comes after three more people in the state tested positive for Covid-19 bringing the tally to 14. On March 3, the state government confirmed the death of a 76-year-old Kalburgi resident -- the first Indian national to succumb to Covid-19.
Yediyurappa made the announcement of setting up of a contingency fund after an emergency cabinet meeting as the state is facing a triple whammy of challenges. Besides, the threat of the spread of Covid-19, Karnataka is also combating bird flu in several parts leading to poultry being culled at an industrial level and the outbreak of Kasyanur Forest Disease (or Monkey Fever) in the Malnad region.
Yediyurappa announced the setting up of a task force, which will monitor the three health challenges facing the state. Health and Family Welfare minister B Sriramulu, Medical Education minister Dr K Sudhakar, Deputy CM Ashwath Narayana, Home Minister Basvraj Bommai and the state chief secretary are part of the task force.
Karnataka cabinet also took the decision that all incoming international passengers would be compulsorily quarantined for a period of 14 days. Sriramulu said that as a precautionary measure it may bar all international flights from landing in Bengaluru.
The health minister said two men, a 56-year-old and a 35-year old, who had returned from the United States of America, tested positive for Covid-19. A 25-year-old woman, who had returned from Spain, is also afflicted with SARS-CoV-2 virus that is causing Covid-19, he added. All three newly identified positive cases have been moved to isolation facilities and those who had come in contact have been traced and quarantined at their homes.
Earlier, Karnataka announced a partial lockdown, where schools, colleges, universities, pubs, shopping malls, swimming pools, gymnasiums, theatres, sports stadiums, public parks and even non-essential medical services such as dental services have been shut. Essential services, including government offices and pharmacies and hospitals, are, however, functional.
