Omicron: Karnataka govt urges districts to step up surveillance
Bengaluru, Dec 22: In the wake of 19 Omicron cases being detected in the State, the Karnataka government on Wednesday directed district authorities and health officials to enhance surveillance and designate contact tracers and quarantine observers to curb the spread.
In a circular issued to the district and health officials, principal secretary, health and family welfare, T K Anil Kumar said 19 cases of super spreader Omicron variant have been detected and "if left unchecked, may trigger a spike in number of new infections."
"To sustain the gains achieved so far in surveillance, containment efforts and to make best efforts to prevent occurrence of the third wave of COVID infections in the State, it is necessary to trace, track and quarantine the primary and secondary contacts of COVID-19 positive persons, more effectively," Kumar said in his circular.
He said the primary and secondary contacts should be identified within 24 hours of reporting of COVID positive case. The primary contacts should be tested on the first day and again on the eight day and home quarantined for seven days from the date of COVID positive reporting.
Similarly the international travelers from high risk countries need to be quarantined for seven days from the date of their arrival, until the follow-up and repeat RT-PCR test on the eighth day, according to the circular.
He added that once the primary and secondary contacts also test positive, they should be treated and managed as per the COVID protocol.
Regarding surveillance, he said Health care personnel such as Public Health Inspecting Officers (PHIO), Community Health Officers (CHOs) and ASHA workers or such other persons who are doing these activities of contact tracing, quarantine and home isolation watch should continue to do them.
"The districts and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) should post dedicated and full time persons separately for contact tracing and quarantine or home isolation watch immediately."
"The tracing, tracking and quarantine activity conducted has to be reported in the contact tracing application and quarantine watch application, which shall be activated with necessary re-orientation to all the staff from BBMP and district health authorities," Kumar said.
The circular said that all the COVID-19 positive persons should be triaged by Medical Officer at the PHC and team on ground as per the prevailing instructions (physical triaging).
It also emphasised upon reinitiating the tele-triaging at state level and triaging information should be recorded in index application within BBMP limits and State Line List in rest of the districts.
The officer also laid emphasis upon deploying further additional teams, if situation warrants, to carry out the surveillance and related activities by the BBMP and district administration in consultation with the State nodal officers.
Central War Room (CWR) of the BBMP along with zonal and assembly constituency level war rooms and all District War Rooms need to be re-activated and made fully functional to monitor and supervise the activities, Kumar said in the circular.
The integrated testing App should be rolled out on pilot basis in BBMP area and if found feasible should be considered for a larger roll out, he said.
Enhancing Surveillance and designating Contact Tracers and Quarantine watchers in the context of Detection of Omicron cases in Karnataka@cmofKarnataka @mla_sudhakar @Comm_dhfwka @IChangeMyCity@WeAreBangalore @airnews_bang @PIBBengaluru @KarnatakaVarthe pic.twitter.com/iBvlDrY2H6
— K'taka Health Dept (@DHFWKA) December 22, 2021
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
