Karnataka to vaccinate 1.5 lakh people daily from March 8
Bengaluru, Mar 7: Karnataka will intensify the inoculation drive from March 8, by providing vaccines at 3,000 centres including the primary health centres and district hospitals, with a target to vaccinate 1.5 lakh people everyday, state Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said on Sunday.
At a meeting held on Saturday to review the COVID-19 situation and progress of vaccination drive, the Minister instructed the officials to make the vaccines available at 3,000 centres from Monday, the minister's office said in a statement.
Sudhakar also appealed to the people to come forward in large numbers to take the vaccine.
According to the health department, at present the 20,000 to 28,000 people are getting vaccinated and majority of them are people above the age of 60 years.
Sudhakar expressed concern over the sudden spike in cases in the Bengaluru urban district from 200 to 250 cases a day for the past few weeks to 400 on Friday.
"As many as 12 clusters have been identified in BBMP limits and testing will be increased to 40,000 from the current 30,000," the statement read.
The minister underlined the need to make the contact tracing robust with tracking and tracing a minimum of 20 primary and secondary contacts for each positive case.
All these 20 contacts will be subjected to Covid-19 test, he added.
The Minister hinted that the city has witnessed a spurt in cases due to Kerala and Maharashtra.
"The challenge is due to the neighbouring states of Kerala and Maharashtra which have high case load.
Along with strict measures at borders, restrictions on large gatherings will also be tightened," he said in the statement.
Emphasising the importance of avoiding large gatherings and agitations in the next one month, Sudhakar said he would speak to the police officials to enforce the guidelines.
Testing in Mangaluru would be ramped up in view of more inter-state travellers there.
This apart, instructions have been issued to Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Chamaajanagara, Udupi, Kodagu, Belagavi and Tumkuru to be more vigilant, the minister said.
He added that Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa would hold a video conference with district administration wherever there are chances of high prevalence of cases.
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Ruckus outside counting centre in Mamata's constituency, TMC claims entry of car with BJP flag
Kolkata (PTI): The counting centre at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur assembly constituency witnessed a ruckus a day ahead of the counting of votes, with TMC workers alleging two cars bearing the BJP's flag were allowed entry to the compound where EVMs are kept.
The incident comes close on the heels of a four-hour-long sit-in by Banerjee in front of the same counting centre at the Sakhawat Memorial Girls School on Thursday night, alleging unauthorised entry of persons into the strongroom.
With the polling now over, the wrangling for power in West Bengal has turned into a battle of nerves between the incumbent TMC and the BJP. Workers and leaders of both parties have been keeping a steely gaze on the security of strongrooms across the state where the electoral fate of the candidates is sealed.
Despite expressing her confidence in a "landslide victory", Banerjee has repeatedly aired her apprehensions of "counting malpractice and EVM tampering ahead of the day of results".
On Sunday morning, TMC workers camping 100 metres from the counting centre alleged that two cars with BJP flags entered the premises and went near the strongroom.
"The CAPF personnel at the spot are not allowing any vehicle or person to enter the premises of the counting centre without valid identity proof. Then how come this car, which we have not seen in the past few days, was allowed entry? Once we protested, the central forces asked us to move 100 metres away," a TMC activist said.
The TMC claimed that while the police personnel posted there promised the vehicle would be removed from the spot, it remained there for some time.
A senior Election Commission official said the car was passing by the Harish Mukherjee Road, and after checking by security forces and police, it was allowed to leave as nothing objectionable was found in it.
On Thursday night, two counting centres, including one at Sakhawat Memorial Girls School in the city, witnessed high drama after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
TMC leaders and candidates, Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh, held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents
In Howrah, TMC protested renovation work by the public works department at a place adjacent to the strongroom, and the EC stopped the work temporarily.
On Saturday, the ruling party filed a complaint with the poll panel, alleging unauthorised sorting of postal ballot covers at the EVM strongroom in Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.
Similar scenes were witnessed on Saturday outside the strongrooms at Asansol College in Paschim Bardhaman and the Barasat Government College in North 24 Parganas districts, where TMC workers held protests, alleging that CCTV cameras were switched off for several minutes.
The EC turned down all allegations, saying the surveillance cameras were working in an uninterrupted manner.
BJP spokesperson Sajal Ghosh told reporters that the people of Bengal were finding it "hilarious" that the TMC, "which used to win elections through unfair means and strongarm tactics" were now coming up with all sorts of "frivolous charges".
"Are they scared of losing?" he posed.
