COVID-19 tally in Karnataka breaches 9,000 mark; Bengaluru reports 196 new infections
Bengaluru: As many as 453 new coronavirus cases were confirmed on Sunday including 196 in Bengaluru alone, taking the total number of infections in Karnataka to 9,150, the Health Department said.
Five more deaths took the toll due to COVID-19 in the state to 137, a bulletin issued by the department said.
An assistant sub-inspector posted in a traffic police station died due to coronavirus on Saturday night taking the number of policemen succumbing to the contagion to three, police said.
The entire police station has been sealed for sanitisation and 25 people including five primary contacts of the deceased have been quarantined at the designated hospitals.
The total number of COVID-19 cases include 5,618 discharges, 3,391 active cases, 137 deaths, four deaths due to non-COVID causes and 77 patients admitted in Intensive Care Units.
The 196 cases confirmed in Bengaluru today is the highest single-day spike ever since the outbreak of the pandemic. With 64 deaths so far, the city's share in the total fatalities in the state due to COVID is 47 per cent.
The five deaths reported on Sunday included three in Bengaluru.
"Yes. It is a major single day spike in Bengaluru," a health department official told P T I. Of the total cases reported in Bengaluru, 101 are Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and 68 are those whose contact tracing is underway.
Apart from 196 in Bengaluru, 40 cases were reported in Ballari, 39 cases each in Kalaburagi and Vijayapura, 18 each in Mysuru and Gadag, 15 in Dharwad, 14 in Bagalkote, 13 in Bidar, eight each in Davangere, Uttara Kannada and Kolar.
The five deaths reported on Sunday consisted of four men and a woman. In view of the rising cases in Bengaluru, the Chief Secretary on Saturday formed three teams.
According to an order, Principal Secretary in Cooperative department Tushar Girinath will head the team that will ensure shifting the patients from their houses or the institutional quarantine facilities to the designated hospital.
The second team headed by the Karnataka Public Service Commission secretary G Sathyavathi will monitor the containment zone and carry out extensive surveys of people with COVID-19.
The third team is headed by Karnataka State Mineral Development Corporation managing director Naveen Raj Singh and Additional Commissioner of police Hemant Nimbalkar who will ensure social distancing at public places.
These three teams will have senior bureaucrats and top police officers as members.
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Attacks on Christians contradict PM's message of harmony, visit to church: Gehlot
Jaipur (PTI): Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday expressed concern over the reported attacks and disruptions in prayer gatherings of the Christian community in different parts of the country, saying such incidents were "worrying and condemnable".
In a post on X, Gehlot said that while the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was visiting a church and giving a message of peace and harmony, news of attacks on members of the Christian community from various regions reflected a serious contradiction.
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"Symbolic gestures would not be enough, and strict legal action was required against those spreading hatred," the senior Congress leader said.
He added that Indian culture has always upheld the spirit of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam", where every citizen has full freedom to practise their faith.
Gehlot urged the Centre and state governments to uphold the rule of law and ensure that no citizen is forced to celebrate their festival under fear.
