Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday directed officials to take action against hospitals that deny admission to COVID-19 patients 'unnecessarily' as he stressed on prompt and quality treatment to bring down the number of deaths.

Yediyurappa, who is holding meetings to review the situation in all the eight zones in the city witnessing a spike in the coronavirus cases, also stressed on making tracing more effective to make sure the pandemic did not spread further.

Officials should take immediate action as per rules in case there was a delay in ambulances picking up infected patients or hospitals denying admission unnecessarily, he said, giving a series of instructions amid rising cases.

"Officials should focus on control of COVID by providing timely treatment to those infected. Tests should be conducted in large numbers to identify those infected, and rules should be followed strictly in containment zones," Yediyurappa was quoted as saying by his office in a release.

He said priority should be given to obtaining test results at the earliest, within 24 hours.

"Avoid unnecessary rush at hospitals by admitting asymptomatic and those without any comorbidities. Ensure that beds are immediately available to needy patients," he said.

Home isolation and COVID care centres have been prescribed for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients.

With the state capital reporting spike in cases, Yediyurappa is holding the review meetings with Ministers, MLAs, and officials of all eight zones separately on Wednesday and Thursday.

Aimed at effectively managing the pandemic in Bengaluru, Yediyurappa on July 9 appointed Ministers and senior IAS officers as in-charge for each zone in the city.

The Chief Minister also instructed officials to ensure effective management of COVID hospitals and care centres with food supply, treatment, cleanliness among other things, and see to that there are no complaints.

"If there are complaints, respond to them immediately.

If COVID patient comes to any hospital seeking treatment, admit them and provide them with initial treatment, and later depending on the situation and need they can be shifted to another hospital," he added.

Asking them to make regular visits to hospitals to check facilities and rectify if there were any faults, he directed them to brief the in-charge Ministers daily and him weekly once.

They should fix targets for bringing down the number of infections in their zones, he said, and issued directions for taking action against officials who did not report for duty without valid reasons.

As of Wednesday, cumulatively 75,833 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state. This included 1,519 deaths and 27,239 discharges.

Bengaluru Urban district tops the districts with a total of 36,993 infections.

Out of the biggest single-day spike 4,764 fresh cases in the state on Wednesday, the district alone accounted for a whopping 2,050.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.

AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.

“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.

He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.

“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.

According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.

In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.

AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.