On Tuesday, 66-year-old Dr Venkatesh, a resident of Nanjangud in Mysuru, succumbed to dead

MYSURU: On Tuesday, 66-year-old Dr Venkatesh, a resident of Nanjangud in Mysuru, succumbed to Covid-19. He is the 43rd doctor in Karnataka to die of the disease while battling a pandemic that has tragically claimed thousands of lives the world over. Indian Medical Association data shows 43 doctors on the frontlines of the pandemic died of Covid-19 since March, with the highest casualties in  Bengaluru and Mysuru regions. Data shows seven doctors each from Bengaluru and Mysuru died of the illness and of the 43 doctors who died, 21 were aged 60-69 and five were above 70 years. 

Data show that over 14 doctors were in the 40-59 age group, and three were between 27-37 years old. IMA data shows that over 80% of the deceased doctors were affiliated with private hospitals, nursing homes and clinics. While most of them were general practitioners and physicians, the number also included psychiatrists, ENT specialists, gynaecologists, radiologists, anaesthetists.

The medical community is enraged that many of the deceased doctors have not yet received government compensation they were privately employed. “We submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, appealing that the government include private doctors under the state insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh, but have not received a response. We have also requested the government to compensate doctors called for duty according to the  Seventh Pay Commission guidelines,” said Dr Madhusudhan Kariganuru, president of the Indian Medical Association, Karnataka.

Yeddyurappa informed the PM that the state has set up 136 testing laboratories and testing has been increased to about 70,000 samples per day.

BENGALURU: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who interacted with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday regarding the Covid-19 situation, pointed out that the fatality rate in Karnataka was coming down and presently stands at 1.54 per cent, while it was 2.6 per cent in July. The PM held a video conference with the CMs of the seven high Covid-prevalence states — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab — to take stock of the situation.

Yediyurappa informed the PM that the state has set up 136 testing laboratories and testing has been increased to about 70,000 samples per day. So far, about 43 lakh samples have been tested. All symptomatic patients are shifted to hospitals immediately after the test results are out and a target has been set to identify all contacts of Covid-19 positive cases in 24 to 48 hours and quarantine them, he said.

The CM said the number of oxygen beds in government hospitals has been increased from 7,000 to 18,000, and will be further enhanced to 31,000. Over 3,000 ICU beds in government and private hospitals have been reserved for Covid patients. Besides standard treatment, “We are also ensuring that patients are given ‘novel drugs’, including Remdesivir, for free.’’ The government has also made available 2,000 ambulances, he said.

Govt working on increasing oxygen  capacity in hospitals, says BSY

On the issue of oxygen supply, Yediyurappa said permission has been given to convert industrial oxygen cylinders into medical cylinders and work on increasing the storage capacity in hospitals has been taken up on a war-footing. It may be recalled that during the previous video conference with the PM, Karnataka had requested for setting up of liquid oxygen plants. Availability of liquid oxygen for medical purposes is presently around 375 metric tons per day. “But if there is a surge in the number of positive cases, we will not be able to provide sufficient medical oxygen without affecting industries”, the CM said.

He suggested that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion can incentivise the industry to set up new oxygen generation units. Hospitals are also being encouraged to ramp up oxygen production at their levels, he said.

Other suggestions by the CM included a mission mode approach for the next six months, strict enforcement in containment zones and dynamically redefining them, re-testing of all symptomatic negatives in antigen tests, graded opening of economic activities after ensuring adequate testing and hospital infrastructure, regular monitoring of those in home isolation and more focus on the nine districts with high mortality rates.

Amid the Covid-19 surge, schools in the state are all set to reopen from September 21 for the current academic year.

MYSURU: Amid the Covid-19 surge, schools in the state are all set to reopen from September 21 for the current academic year. However, regular classes will commence only after the Union Government issues guidelines in this regard.Primary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar on Friday said schools will be open from 9 am to 12 noon and students can interact with teachers to clarify doubts, as they have been attending only online classes for the past two months. Wearing of masks, maintaining social distancing will be mandatory. The admission process for classes 1 to 10 will be completed before September 30, he pointed out. 

On the trend of children from private institutions joining government schools, he said this is a positive development and assured that the government is prepared to provide all facilities to students. If private school managements refuse to issue transfer certificates, the BEOs are empowered to issue them in time to help children join schools of their choice, he said.

The Education Department’s Widyagama and Sethubanda programmes, being aired on Doordarshan, have had an overwhelming response, which may have also prompted parents to rethink about admitting their wards in government schools, he felt.