1. Three More Tabligh Delegates Test Positive
Four more cases were tested positive during the day, taking the total number of those infected to 128. The three others are Belagavi men who had taken part in the Tablighi Jamaat meet in New Delhi in February-March.
S Suresh Kumar, education minister, who briefed the media on the status of the outbreak in the state on Friday, said health department officials have screened close to 1,000 people said to have attended the congregation in Nizamuddin West. While authorities collected 288 throat swab samples, 187 were found negative, Kumar said.
“We are waiting for results on 88 others. Thirteen samples were found positive,” he said.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Karnataka: Crowd Pelts Stones at Police For Stopping Friday Prayer
Four cops were injured in Karnataka’s Hubballi district when an unruly crowd hurled stoned at them. According a senior officer, when police asked the crowd, violating lockdown by gathering near a mosque on Mantur Road on Friday afternoon, to disperse, they resorted to stone-pelting.
Talking to the media, Hubballi police commissioner R Dileep said that those who pelted stoned included women and children. “Some people wanted to conduct prayers, but as per law, prayers are not allowed. When police requested them not to do it, few women and children pelted stones. We have rounded up few people in this case and investigation is on,” said R Dileep, Hubballi police commissioner.
(Source: The Quint)
3. Govt: No Free Food in Indira Canteens
Days after announcing it will ensure free food for migrant labourers heading out of Bengaluru and other places in Karnataka in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak, the Karnataka government on Friday reversed its decision to provide free food at Indira Canteen.
“Now that we are distributing free rations, the services at Indira Canteens will be charged — one has to pay Rs 5 for breakfast and Rs 10 for lunch,” primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar told reporters.
The minister did not respond to TOI’s queries on why the Indira Canteen food was being charged when the labour department had said it was unable to reach provisions to thousands of migrants in Bengaluru alone.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. 8 Kyrgyzstan Nationals Quarantined in Bidar
The presence of eight Kyrgyzstan nationals at Markaz Masjid in Ratkalpura area of the city has caused concern among the people of the city.This comes close on the heels of 11 people from Bidar district testing positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. Deputy Commissioner HR Mahadev told reporters that they came to the city 25 days ago.
“We quarantined them as soon as they arrived. Doctors who examined them said that there is no need to collect their throat swab samples for testing,” the DC said. Superintendent of Police D L Nagesh told DH that though they belonged to the Jamaat organisation, it was not clear whether they attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held at Nizamuddin in Delhi.
(Source: Deccan Herald)
5. NIMHANS to Start Testing COVID-19 Samples From Saturday
Following approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the BSL-3 laboratory at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) will start testing COVID-19 samples from Saturday.
With this, four government-approved labs in the city — NIV unit at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD), and the VRDL labs at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Command Hospital, and NIMHANS — will test COVID-19 samples for free. This apart, two private labs — Neuberg Anand Diagnostic Laboratory and Cancyte Technologies Pvt. Ltd. — are also authorised to conduct the test.
(Source: The Hindu)
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