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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Builder-influencer held with cache of weapons in Thane district
Thane (PTI): A 55-year-old builder and social media influencer has been arrested for alleged possession of a cache of weapons in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Tuesday.
The accused, Surendra Panduranga Patil, who has more than three lakh followers on Instagram, was arrested on Saturday night, just a week after being released on bail in a separate case, an official said.
"Acting on a tip-off, our team searched Patil's bungalow in the Dawdi area of Dombivli late on Saturday night. We recovered a cache of weapons hidden behind a fake panel of a newly installed shoe rack that did not match the house's interior," the official from the Crime Branch said.
Five country-made pistols and revolvers, some engraved with 'Made in USA,' and two air guns, were seized, along with 371 cartridges, 167 air gun pellets, a sword, a button knife, a sharp-edged weapon, and two steel rods, he said, adding that the seized items were worth Rs 10 lakh.
"The quantity of ammunition suggests the stockpile was fully operational. While Patil claims the weapons were mere 'props' for his gangster-themed social media videos, we are investigating if he was preparing a 'mini-army' or supplying arms to local criminals," the official said.
Patil, a history-sheeter, now faces fresh charges under the Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act.
