47 goats quarantined after goatherd tests Covid +ve in Karnataka village

47 goats quarantined after goatherd tests Covid +ve in Karnataka village

Kiran.Parashar@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: 01.07.2020

Forty-seven goats were quarantined on Tuesday after a goatherd tested positive for Covid-19 in Godekere village in Tumakuru district, about 127km from Bengaluru.

Sources said the village in Chikkanayakanahalli taluk has around 300 houses and a population of 1,000. Two villagers, including the goatherd, tested positive recently. After this, four goats of the goat-rearer died, causing alarm in the village.

District health and veterinary officials visited the village on Tuesday and collected swab samples of the goats before putting the livestock in quarantine outside the village. The team faced huge resistance from the villagers, who suspected they had arrived to cull the goats. The officials convinced them that there is risk of the livestock getting infected by coronavirus and have to be tested.

P Manivannan, secretary of the animal husbandry department, said they will look into the matter and postmortem will be conducted on the dead goats.

People see god in docs today: Tope writes a heartfelt letter

People see god in docs today: Tope writes a heartfelt letter

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:01.07.2020

Netas do have a heart, after all. State health minister Rajesh Tope’s soft side has come to the fore in a heartfelt open letter he has written on National Doctors’ Day, addressing medicos who have been the biggest army in the fight against Covid.

Thanking them for their response to battle the pandemic, Tope said he is “forever grateful to frontline workers who risk their lives to save lives of their patients”.

Giving credit for the high recovery rate of Covid patients in the state to hard work done by doctors, Topes letter goes on to say: “At a time when all religious places are shut, people can see God in a doctor today.” he writes.

The minister has added in his note, “At a time when people are staying away from friends and neighbours, fearing that they too might catch the infection, the doctors are not only treating patients, but also giving them the courage to fight this battle,” said Tope.

In an expression of empthy with the medical warriors, Tope has said that one can only imagine the state of mind of doctors who leave their family to save lives. Doctors who step out of their homes, running the risk of infection, often tell relatives of patients that they will take care of the patient and they (the relatives) should stay at home.

The letter, packed with emotion and humane feeling concludes: “I salute you and your dedication towards your profession.”

Former HoD of neurosurgery at KGMU, PGI dies

Former HoD of neurosurgery at KGMU, PGI dies

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Lucknow:01.07.2020

Renowned neurosurgeon and former head of neurosurgery both at KGMU and SGPGI, Dr Devendra K Chhabra died in Lucknow on Tuesday morning after a long illness. He is survived by his wife Dr Apjit Kaur and son Dr Sarab Chhabra.

A master teacher and a disciplinarian who was warm and comforting to his patients, Dr Chhabra had invented a low-cost neurological equipment, the ‘Chhabra Shunt’, which continues to be an affordable option for the masses. He had also established the neurosurgery unit at Vivekanand Institute of Medical Sciences after retirement.

Students, colleagues and the entire medical community remembered Dr Chhabra on Tuesday as a man of mild mannerisms, eye for perfection, immense discipline and a fine taste for all things classic.

“He was our guru. He studied both MBBS and MS at KGMU and was the first to join neurosurgery training there, ” said current HoD Dr BK OJha.

Visa processing for UK will resume July 6

Visa processing for UK will resume July 6

01.07.2020 TOI 

Visa processing for the UK will resume in India on July 6 in a phased manner. UK visa application centres in Delhi, south Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Cochin, Hyderabad, Jalandhar, Kolkata and Pune will open first. VFS is expected to announce on Wednesday when visa processing for some other countries will resume in India.

Thank you Doctors

Sudden notice to vacate hostel leaves BU students frazzled

FOR COVID CARE

Sudden notice to vacate hostel leaves BU students frazzled

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:01.07.2020

Chaos prevailed at Bangalore University’s hostel for SC/ST girls on Jnanabharathi campus. Reason: Students were asked to return and vacate their rooms at short notice. The government is taking over the building to convert it into a dedicated Covid hospital for patients with symptoms.

The students were contacted on Monday afternoon and asked to vacate their rooms by Tuesday. Those from districts like Belagavi and Raichur had to travel overnight, coughing up whopping sums on travel to reach the campus. The hostel has over 350 students, many of whom had returned home before and after the lockdown.

“My father and I started from Chitradurga at 10pm on Monday night. We packed tiffin, snacks, water and other essentials to ensure we didn’t have to stop on the way. We used public toilets in the morning and reached the campus by 6am. We paid Rs 8,000 for the cab. The journey has been tiresome,” said Roopashree BK, a student from Chitradurga.

For Anusha A, a student from Chintamani, the journey with her three friends cost her Rs 5,000. “We were among the luckier ones. There are others from far away districts, for whom the journey must have been even more expensive,” she said.

Even those within the city were hassled by the last-minute alert. “Getting a bus and taking all the luggage on it was very difficult. I waited for nearly an hour for a bus. There’s no common social media group for the students. So, some of them are still not aware of this development,” said Sangeetha HM, another student.

“The hostel also has students from other states and countries. They will either lose their personnel belongings or won’t be able to use them again once college restarts. Further, students from rural areas may not be taken back by their villages once they visit Bengaluru, because of the growing virus scare,” said another student, who alleged the officials were rude when they came to vacate the room.

According to a notification from BBMP, the BU SC/ ST hostel will be turned into a 400-bed hospital and the North East students hostel into a 350-bed facility.

BU officials have raised concerns over keeping the varsity offices open while the Covid facility functions from its campus.

TOLD TO PACK UP: A student leaves with her belongings from BU’s Jnanabharathi campus

The government told us to hand over hostels for a dedicated Covid hospital as soon as possible. While the hostel for NE students has been handed over already as it was yet to be occupied, BBMP was also keen on the BDA hostel for SC/ST students. The other hostels weren’t in good condition. We have students from other districts and states who have been affected by this sudden notice. We are requesting the government to give us some time to vacate the rooms. For students who cannot reach, we have to find a place to keep their belongings.

KR Venugopal

BANGALORE UNIVERSITY VC

Govt contemplates hiring 1.5k doctors, 6k nurses

Govt contemplates hiring 1.5k doctors, 6k nurses

Chethan.Kumar@timesgroup.com

01.07.2020

Bengaluru: The government may hire 1,500 doctors and 6,000 nurses, besides reserving one in four beds in every hospital that has a minimum 200 beds to treat the infected.

These were moot points at a meeting between experts and chief minister BS Yediyurappa last week. While the government has already decided to implement some of the recommendations, the CM has sought a formal report from Dr Devi Shetty and Dr CN Manjunath, both of whom participated in the meeting, before taking a decision on hiring doctors and nurses.

Shetty had suggested the government “hire/recruit 50 doctors and 200 nurses for each district hospital,” and to identify doctors with a minimum two years of experience in handling ICU facilities.

“...To use the services of MBBS doctors with fellowship in critical care medicine as a long-term strategy and to enforce a policy to reserve a minimum of 50 beds in hospitals with 200 beds or more,” Shetty said, according to the minutes of Friday’s meeting.

P Ravikumar, principal secretary, chief minister’s office (CMO), told TOI: “These are extraordinary times and the government will act on the suggestions immediately once the report comes in.”

Further, more than one of the four experts present at the meeting recommended that the government set up tele-ICUs at each district.

“Tele-ICU is the best model adopted in the state and action will be taken to ensure tele-ICU facilities in all the district hospitals, including Bengaluru,” chief secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar said.

Dr Giridhara Babu, professor, Indian Institute of Public Health, aside from recommending tele-ICUs, also said the government must keep at least 5,000 beds ready in the next two months, while Dr MK Sudharshan suggested that the government supply immunity boosters to patients and engage health workers or volunteers at the ward and booth level to tackle the pandemic in Bengaluru.

While Karnataka has more than 1.2 lakh registered doctors, sources say not more than 5% are with the government. As per an earlier analysis by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI), of the more than 1 lakh doctors in Karnataka in 2018, only 5,047 or 4.8% were with the government.