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Karnataka sets up Rs 200-cr fund to fight coronavirus
Apart from coronavirus, Karnataka is also grappling with bird flu and monkey fever.
Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday announced setting up a Rs 200 crore fund to combat the spread of coronavirus in the state where 14 people have tested positive for the virus and one person has died.
Yediyurappa’s announcement came after an emergency cabinet meeting. Apart from coronavirus, the state is also grappling with bird flu in several parts and Kasyanur Forest Disease (or Monkey Fever) in the Malnad region of the state.
The chief minister also announced the setting up of a task force which will monitor all the three health challenges facing the state. The task force includes Health and Family Welfare minister B Sriramulu, Medical Education minister Dr K Sudhakar, Deputy CM Ashwath Narayana, Home Minister Basvraj Bommai apart from the Chief Secretary of the state.
It was also decided at the meeting that all incoming international passengers would be compulsorily quarantined for a period of 14 days. The state health minister also said that as a precautionary measure it was contemplating barring all international flights from landing in Bangalore.
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Commenting on the three new positive cases in the state on Wednesday, Sriramulu said that this included two men - a 56-year-old and a 35-year old - who had returned from USA and a 25-year-old woman who had returned from Spain. All three have been moved to isolation facilities and those who had come in contact have been traced and quarantined at their homes.
The state had earlier announced a partial lockdown in which schools, colleges, universities, pubs, malls, theatres, sports stadiums, public parks and even non-essential medical services like dental services have been shut even as essential services including government offices and pharmacies, hospitals continue to function.
