Mangaluru: After a series of news reports claimed that a family hailing from Bhatkal on May 11 had hid facts to get treatment for a six-year old kid and had informed the hospital authorities that they hailed from Kundapur, the issue was widely shared and discussed on social media platforms.

Believed to be a COVID Hotspot in Uttara Kannada District, Bhatkal was already in headlines and this only added fuel to the fire. Soon, the social media users and media houses began blaming the family for manipulating facts and going out of the right way to get treatment for the kid. Several media reports had claimed that following the incident, the Tejasvini Hospital, where the patient was admitted had been completely sealed down and all the staff of the hospital were sent to quarantine.

The reports of the hospital being sealed down and staff being sent to quarantine was also proved wrong as no such measures were taken by the District Administration or by the hospital, hence a section of media houses were caught on the backfoot for delivering and spreading fake and baseless news in the backdrop of Corona Virus.

Tejasvini hospital where the kid was treated has now issued a clarification explaining the sequence of events that panned out on May 11 at the hospital. In the official statement the hospital have also made it a point that as reported by the media houses, the family did not hid or manipulate facts at the hospital.

The six-year old child, according to the hospital statement was admitted to the hospital with a displaced fracture of the elbow and absent pulse in the hand.

“As the child was hailing from a COVID Hotspot as Bhatkal had 10-12 Corona positive cases, the patient and mother were isolated and the district health officials were duly informed. As the mother was emotional and anxious it appeared that she had upper respiratory symptoms and hence once again the district health officials suggested getting a ‘throat swab’ done of both mother and child which was duly done by the health authorities in the evening of 11th May” the statement from hospital added.

“The family at no time hid the fact that they were from Bhatkal and infact had produced the ‘Aadhar card’ at the time of admission itself. What is important is that the family came to Mangalore for a medical emergency without hiding any facts and the needful was done and the child is now doing well” the hospital clarified in the statement.

The hospital further added that the child was recovering well and the pulse in her hand returned while the throat swabs report of both mother and the child returned negative following which both of them were discharged late evening on May 13.

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Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.

The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.

Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.

"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.

Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.

As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.

"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.

There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.

The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.

The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.

The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.

After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.

Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.

Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.

To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.

In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.

Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.