Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital nurses to go on strike today

Capital records highest single-day jump with 427 cases; no deaths reported

04/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER,NEW DELHI

Doctors and medical staff thank the Defence Forces for showering petals on them at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi on Sunday.R. V. Moorthy

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Capital on Sunday saw the highest single-day jump for the second consecutive day with 427 new cases, said government officials. However, no deaths were reported. The latest health bulletin by the Delhi government stated that 1,362 people have recovered and 64 have died so far.

On the other hand, nurses at Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital in north-west Delhi said they would go on strike on Monday after the administration failed to address their demands.

Nurses demand

In a letter to the Medical Director of the hospital on Sunday, the nurses asked for separation of COVID-19 suspected and non-suspected patients, making PPEs available to all, provision of quality quarantine facilities for healthcare workers, insurance cover for treatment of medical staff among other issues.

A spokesperson for the union said nurses were “treated differently” at the hospital.

For instance, after a technician tested COVID-19 positive, doctors who came in contact with him, were quarantined but the nursing staff were “posted back to duty without getting tested negative”, the letter reads.

It also alleged that the nurses, who tested positive for the virus, were being “dumped at quarantine centres with no facilities”.

“This is the honour we get for being a part of hospital services and on the front line,” the letter reads. Their demands also include the provision of decent isolation facilities for those who tested COVID-19 positive, provision of hotel accommodation for nursing staff working in COVID-19 areas, private hospitalisation of nurses who develop symptoms, sanitisation of premises, and reduction in the percentage of staff on duty to control exposure to the virus.

Six doctors test positive

Nine people, including six doctors, in connection with two hospitals — Hindu Rao Hospital (HRH) and Kasturba Hospital — run by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, were found COVID-19 positive on Sunday.

The persons, who had come in contact with the patients, have been put in quarantine, said officials, adding that their samples have been collected.

The nine patients were already in quarantine, said north civic body spokesperson.

Earlier, a nurse from NRH and a first-year postgraduate student from Kasturba Hospital were tested positive for the virus following which the hospitals were sanitised, said officials

Chaos in Telangana over e-passes

Karnataka operates free buses to districts for migrant workers

04/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,HYDERABAD

On their way: Migrant workers boarding buses at the Majestic bus station in Bengaluru on Sunday. K. Murali Kumar K. Murali Kumar

While there was chaos in Telangana on Sunday over e-passes for migrant workers, the Karnataka government operated free buses to districts.

In Telangana, hours after Director-General of Police M. Mahender Reddy announced an e-pass initiative to help the stranded return to their home States, the Tolichowki area near Hyderabad saw a large number of migrant workers coming onto the roads seeking travel permission.

The workers were not able to get any such immediate permission for inter-State travel since they did not have private transport. They demanded that the government make arrangements to send them back to their native places.

Police officials reached the area and pacified them, promising food and other help as long as they were in Telangana. “We assured to provide them groceries and other essential commodities. We gave them food and water, before sending them back to their dwellings,” said Hyderabad Joint Commissioner of Police (West) A.R. Srinivas. He said 1,000-odd construction workers, daily wage labour and petty vendors, who used to sell food stuff on the roadside before the lockdown, came out of their dwellings around 9.30 a.m., and gathered on Tolichowki streets. They were dispersed within a few hours.

Most of the migrant workers were from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.

Meanwhile, many others stranded in Telangana made a beeline at police stations across the three urban Commissionerates — Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda — as the e-pass dashboard failed. These inter-State travel permission seekers included students, IT employees from other States, and youngsters whose families reside outside of Telangana or Hyderabad limits.

Police officials issued passes to all applicants who had their documents in order, including those who sought intra-State travel.

500 buses

After facing flak for charging exorbitant fares to transport stranded migrants in Bengaluru, the Karnataka government started ferrying migrants to their respective districts without any fare from Sunday morning. This service will be available till Tuesday from the BMTC and KSRTC bus stands in Majestic. On Sunday, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operated around 500 buses from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. with around 15,000 people travelling to over 45 destinations across the State, sources said. From Tuesday, buses will ply from 7 a.m. in the morning.

Thousands of people, including migrant workers, students and others thronged the BMTC bus stand in Majestic on Sunday, immediately after the State government announced that it would ferry stranded migrants to their respective districts without any fare.

(With inputs from Bengaluru Bureau)

No power to cut salary of SIC members, State told

04/05/2020, 

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

The State Information Commission (SIC) in a letter to the State government said that the latter was not empowered to reduce the salary or allowances of either the State Chief Information Commissioner or the Information Commissioners. The Commission has drawn attention to Section 16 (5) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, which states that “the salaries, allowances and other conditions of service of the State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioners shall not be varied to their disadvantage after their appointment.”

Salary handed over

The State Chief Information Commissioner and the four Information Commissioners, however, handed over their salaries for one month to the Chief Minister.

5 special trains to Bihar from Kerala

Chaos in Telangana over e-passes; Karnataka operates free buses to districts

04/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

On their way: Migrant workers boarding buses at the Majestic bus station in Bengaluru on Sunday. K. Murali Kumar K. Murali Kumar

While there was chaos in Telangana on Sunday over e-passes for migrant workers, the Karnataka government operated free buses, and in Kerala, five Shramik Special trains to Bihar were pressed into service.

In Telangana, hours after Director-General of Police M. Mahender Reddy announced an e-pass initiative to help the stranded return to their States, the Tolichowki area near Hyderabad saw a large number of migrant workers coming onto the roads seeking travel permission.

The workers were not able to get any such immediate permission for inter-State travel since they did not have private transport. They demanded that the government make arrangements to send them back to their native places.

Police officials reached the area and pacified them, promising food and other help as long as they were in Telangana.

Most of the migrant workers were from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.

The Railways operated five ‘Shramik Special’ trains from Kerala to Bihar on Sunday to facilitate the return of migrant workers. One train each was operated from Kozhikode, Thrissur, and Kannur, and two from Ernakulam. The two trains from Ernakulam had a total of 2,201 workers from Bihar. The train bound for Barauni left at 3 p.m., carrying 1,140 passengers, while the Muzaffarpur-bound train left at 6.30 p.m, with 1,061 people, said Ernakulam Deputy Commissioner of Police G. Poonguzhali.

Checking at camps

“Ten teams, comprising officials of health, labour, police and revenue departments, visited workers’ camps, registered them online and conducted health check-up there itself. The shortlisted people were brought to the Ernakulam Junction railway station on KSRTC buses, accompanied by police personnel,” Ms. Poonguzhali said.

500 buses

After facing flak for charging exorbitant fares to transport stranded migrants in Bengaluru, the Karnataka government started ferrying migrants to their respective districts without any fare from Sunday morning. This service will be available till Tuesday from the BMTC and KSRTC bus stands in Majestic. On Sunday, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operated around 500 buses from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. with around 15,000 people travelling to over 45 destinations across the State, sources said. From Tuesday, buses will ply from 7 a.m. in the morning.

Thousands of people, including migrant workers, students and others thronged the BMTC bus stand in Majestic on Sunday, immediately after the State government announced that it would ferry stranded migrants to their respective districts without any fare.

(With inputs from Hyderabad and Bengaluru bureaus)

Chennai returnees asked to self-report

04/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER,TIRUPPUR

With Chennai's Koyambedu wholesale vegetable and fruit market emerging as a new COVID-19 hotspot, Collector K. Vijayakarthikeyan on Sunday requested traders and truck drivers in the district who have visited the Koyambedu market and other Chennai returnees to self-report.

Contact numbers

In a release, he requested all the Chennai returnees to contact the District COVID-19 Emergency Control Centre using numbers 0421-1077 or 0421-2971199/2971133 and voluntarily register their names, addresses and other relevant particulars.

Along with this, they must compulsorily isolate themselves for a period of 14 days, he said.

Those who have returned from other districts after April 19 must also follow the above procedure.

Persons with COVID-19 symptoms such as cough and fever must visit the nearest government hospital or a primary health centre at the earliest, Mr. Vijayakarthikeyan said.

On Saturday, two truck drivers who returned to Tiruppur from Koyambedu market carrying watermelons tested positive for COVID-19. No new cases were reported on Sunday and 109 out of the total 114 cases have recovered in the district.

SALEM

Salem Collector S.A. Raman advised persons, who had visited Koyambedu market and returned to the district to voluntarily report themselves with the district administration.

According to a press release, the district administration has advised persons to voluntarily report at government hospitals, primary health centres or at check-posts in district borders.

Persons have also been advised to contact control room at the Deputy Director of Health Services office: 0427-2450498, 2450022, 2450023, 7305868942.

Vehicle pass

A press release from the administration said public can apply for vehicle passes through the website tnepass.tnega.org.

Law college starts classes online

04/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,COIMBATORE

Government Law College, Coimbatore, had started classes online for students, said a release from Principal K.S. Gopalakrishnan.

Attendance

Mr. Gopalakrishnan said though the college had not made attendance compulsory for students, the number of students who participated in classes on online classroom platforms were more than 80%.

The college did so based on suggestions from the Director of Legal Studies, N.S. Santhosh Kumar, who wanted law colleges to make use of the lockdown period to continue teaching students.

Even Cobra hatchlings are lethal, caution experts

Warning comes after video of a Malayalam actor holding a hatchling on her palm goes viral

04/05/2020, K.S. SUDHI ,KOCHI

The venom in a hatchling is of high concentration.

It doesn’t require an adult cobra to snuff the life out of you; even hatchlings are capable of it, warn herpetologists.

Snake specialists sounded caution on handling snakes after a video of a Malayalam actor holding the hatchling of a cobra on her palm went viral on social media. The hatchling, a few centimetres in length, could be seen holding its hood up in the video and launching itself forward as if to strike.

Oblivious of the risk, the actor continued speaking on video the about the compassion to be shown towards such small guests.

The actor was also seen introducing the snake to some children.

‘Enough venom’

“The young cobra has enough venom, fully developed fangs and a poison delivery system sufficient enough to kill an adult person or cause serious health risks. The cobra venom is neurotoxic. It was suicidal on the actor’s part to hold the snake on her palm and go for a video recording,” said Jose Louies, an IUCN specialist on snakes.

Cobra is one of the four venomous snakes that accounts for most of the snakebite deaths in the country. Russell’s viper, Saw-scaled viper and the Common krait are the other members of the lethal league.

The venom in the cobra hatchling would be of high concentration. The striking distance between the snake and the human body was a few centimetres in this case. With its agility, the young snake could strike at any angle with lightning speed, said Mr. Louies, also the founder of Indiansnakes, a website that tracks snakes and snakebites.

Snakes hatch towards the end of summer months and the chance of encountering them were higher during the monsoon period. Most cases of snakebite occurred during monsoon, he said. Ideally, one should stay away from snakes.

Steps to be taken

If confronted in an unavoidable situation, the movement of the snake could be restrained by covering it with a bucket and then waiting for snake rescuers to arrive.

In case of a hatchling, they should be removed from the area safely, Mr. Louies suggested.