Bengaluru: While advocating a “duck and fight” strategy, Health Minister Dr. K. Sudhakar yesterday said the Government does not have any intentions of enforcing a lockdown despite increasing number of Covid cases.

“The Government does not have any intention to clamp a lockdown. Lockdown was imposed in the State when there were no vaccines and no information on the kind of havoc Covid would play. Now India has vaccines and experienced two waves where it did well to restrict the virus,” he told reporters here.

People should not panic over an increase in positivity rate because the virus does not behave violently in people who have been either partially or fully vaccinated, Dr. Sudhakar said.

“Covid cases will increase. You cannot run away from it. You have to adopt a ‘duck and fight’ strategy. In Karnataka, 99 percent of the population has been partially vaccinated and 80 percent fully vaccinated. Vaccinated people are not virulently infected by Covid or Omicron. Therefore, I request the people to get themselves vaccinated,” he said.

Dr. Sudhakar said it is impossible to stop the arrival of international visitors to India, but it is possible to restrict the spread of the virus by taking strict measures, without disturbing the business and commercial activities of the people.“Even the Indian Government has made it mandatory for international arrivals to undergo seven-day home quarantine,” he said.

Earlier, 107 new Omicron cases were reported in the State on Jan. 6, taking the overall tally to 333.

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CM convenes meeting with experts tomorrow

Bengaluru: The number of active COVID-19 cases in Karnataka, which had been consistently declining since September 2021, has breached the 10,000-mark again, for the first time since Oct. 10. Yesterday, the State reported 10 more cases of Omicron variant, taking the State’s Omicron  tally to 76.

The number of patients under treatment had continued to dip from September 2021, touching 8,644 on Oct. 31 and 6,574 on Dec. 1, 2021. By Jan. 1, 2022, however, such cases stood at 9,386, crossing the 9,000 mark for the first time since mid-October 2021 before reaching 10,292 on Jan. 3.

In the wake of all these developments, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has called for a special meeting on Thursday evening with members of his Cabinet as well as a meeting on Tuesday (Jan. 4) with the State Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on COVID.

The Committee has already recommended to the Government about the need for lockdown and this has been hinted at time and again by Ministers like R. Ashoka and Araga Jnanendra.

“Bengaluru is in the Red Zone according to the list declared by the Union Government. It is important to sound an alert in Bengaluru. We can save people’s lives if we impose more restrictions in Bengaluru and reduce the number of hospitalisations,” Ashoka said.

The Chief Minister is in favour of a semi-lockdown in Bengaluru and border districts including Mysuru, Mangaluru and Belagavi where the influx of people is high from Kerala and Maharashtra where the cases are spiking every day.

Borders may see stricter curbs as even the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has indicated that a major portion of the infection (virus) carriers are from Maharashtra and Kerala and also from foreign lands.

At present, the Karnataka Government has imposed a night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am from Dec. 28 till Jan. 7 morning.

In all probability, the night curfew will be extended with more curbs to prevent people from moving and congregating at one place.

Speaking to the reporters this morning, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the two meetings had been convened to decide upon a future course of action on whether the State needed to impose a lockdown or a semi-lockdown without hampering economic activities.

“As of now, I have instructed strict adherence to all COVID-19 protocols…and the guidelines issued till now are in force,” he added.

He said that the Government would be compelled to impose restrictions in districts bordering Kerala and Maharashtra. “People should follow guidelines and avoid creating a situation that may force the Government to impose a lockdown,” he said.

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Omicron behaviour being assessed after genomic sequencing; results soon

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has dismissed fears in some quarters over any possible lockdown amid COVID-19 cases in some educational institutions including two Nursing Colleges in Mysuru and the detection of the Omicron, a variant of the virus in some parts of the world.

Allaying apprehensions, he made it clear yesterday that there was no proposal to impose lockdown. “We have instructed adherence to strict precautions at Schools and Colleges but not to close them. There is no proposal to impose the lockdown,” he said.

Speaking to reporters here, the CM urged people not to panic about Omicron and asked them to strictly follow guidelines. He said those arriving from the countries where the Omicron variant was found are being screened at the airports and that they would be allowed into the cities only if they test negative.

Meanwhile, after two people who returned from South Africa tested positive, authorities have made seven days quarantine compulsory for all international passengers and intensified testing and sanitisation at Bengaluru airport.

Health Minister Dr. K. Sudhakar said that the samples of one of the two passengers tested positive for Coronavirus but was “a little different from the Delta variant.”

Airport authorities in Bengaluru have also made RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Testing for those travelling from other countries and thermal screening compulsory.

The Minister said he was not supposed to say anything officially as he was still in touch with the Union Health Ministry and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) officials. “There is a Delta variant for the past nine months only, but you are saying that one of the samples is Omicron. I cannot say about it officially. I am in touch with the ICMR and Central Government officials,” Dr. Sudhakar said.

The sample has been sent to ICMR, he said. Refusing to divulge the identity of the man, the Minister said his COVID report shows that he has contracted a different variant. “There is a 63-year-old man whose name I should not disclose. His report is a bit different. It appears different from the Delta variant. We will discuss with the ICMR officials and will let people know by the evening what it is,” the Minister said.

“We will get clear information on Dec. 1 about how the Omicron behaves after the genomic sequencing. Accordingly we will initiate all measures,” he said. Stating that the new variant is visible in at least 12 nations, Dr. Sudhakar said the international travellers will be tested carefully and those tested positive will be hospitalised compulsorily.

On Omicron, Dr. Sudhakar, who himself is a medical professional, said he has also spoken to his classmate doctors working in South Africa, who told him that the new variant is not as dangerous as the Delta variant.

“The satisfying thing I came across after talking to my classmates in South Africa is that this (Omicron variant) spreads rapidly, but it is not as dangerous as Delta. People feel nausea and vomiting and sometimes the pulse rate goes up, but loss of taste and smell is not there. There is less hospitalisation because its intensity is not severe,” he explained.

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Chennai: A recent national survey showed that internet use had more than doubled in the past four years and that COVID-related shutdowns contributed significantly to the increased demand for connectivity.

Among the aged 15-65 population, 49 percent said they had used the Internet, compared to only 19 percent of the aged 15-65 population claiming the same in late 2017. This translates to 61 percent of households in 2021 using the internet compared to 21 percent in 2017.

The 2021 survey showed that over 130 million users came online in 2020 and 2021. Of the nearly 80 million who started using the internet in 2020, 43 percent or over 34 million said they started doing so because of needs brought about due to the COVID crisis.

With nearly half the population using the internet, it is natural to ask if the internet helped Indians to study, work and access other services during the various rounds of national, regional and localised lockdowns experienced in 2020 and 2021.

We see that digital connectivity indeed helped facilitate access to education, work, health services inter alia. 64 percent of all households with enrolled school-aged children had internet access while the remaining 36 percent didn’t.

Among the first group (households with internet), 31 percent of children were likely to receive remote education of some kind, while only 8 percent of the second group (households without internet) said they received some kind of remote education.

A similar trend was seen in accessing healthcare. Among the people that needed to access healthcare services during the pandemic, 65 percent of those with internet access were able to access healthcare while only 52 percent without internet were able to access healthcare.

But a closer examination of the numbers shows that existing inequalities continued to influence the digital divide. For example, while connected households with kids had more access to remote education, these were the richer, more urban households with a more educated head of household and access to big-screen devices (example, computers, tablets).

Meanwhile, the majority of households that received no education were poorer with less access to large screen devices (instead relying on mobile phones). When it came to being able to work remotely during the shutdowns, only 10 percent of those employed said they were able to work remotely.

Not surprisingly, higher percentages belonged to those whose jobs fell under the categories of finance, insurance, information technology, public administration and other professional services.

The survey was conducted by LIRNEasia, a regional think tank working on digital policy issues across the Asia Pacific and ICRIER, a policy-oriented economic policy think tank based out of New Delhi.

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Mysore/Mysuru: Property transactions, which had come to almost naught after the enforcement of COVID-induced lockdown a few months ago subsequent to the second wave of the deadly pandemic, now seems to have regained its lost momentum as property owners, buyers and other members of the public are lining up before the Sub-Registrar Offices in city as well as in the district.

The number of people visiting the Sub-Registrar Offices for their work is only increasing by the day. As at 4.30 pm on Friday, Mysuru East Sub-Registrar Office saw 63 property registrations, Mysuru West – 79, Mysuru South – 54 and North – 79 registrations. 

Also, the Sub-Registrar Office at MUDA saw 7 property registrations, Nanjangud – 62, Hunsur – 52, H.D. Kote – 42, K.R. Nagar – 37, Mirle – 19, Periyapatna – 14, Bettadapura – 27, T. Narasipur – 26 and Bannur – 27 property registrations. 

In the pre-Corona days, the Sub-Registrar Offices in city used to record over a hundred property transactions on an average every day. Now with the transactions regaining momentum, the Govt. has begun to get good revenues out of the property registrations in the form of stamp duty, registration fees etc.

Meanwhile, the Sub-Registrar Offices have done away with the token system and have resorted to first-come-first-serve basis, as the token system was found to have several lacunae.

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Mysore/Mysuru: After over two months, normal life resumed in Mysuru this morning after the State Government announced a further ease in lockdown restrictions under Unlock 3.0. Most establishments opened to 100 percent capacity after putting in place SOPs to ensure COVID-appropriate behaviour both from the staff and customers. People and vehicles flooded the streets while Bus stands, Railway Stations, roads and shops were brimming with people. As the day progressed, rush was seen at most shops throughout the city bringing a smile on the faces of traders.  

Interestingly, women shrugged off the lockdown blues and thousands of them crowded the saree and garment shops. At one saree shop in the heart of the city, there were more than 3,000 women at various counters and a large number of them were waiting outside to get in.  

As thousands of people and vehicles descended on the streets, several areas in the Central Business District witnessed traffic gridlocks and slow-moving traffic for hours. The Mysuru-Bengaluru Highway saw a high density of travellers with vehicles lining up till Srirangapatna. 

Free movement as no barricades

On their part, the Police had removed all the barricades within the city and outskirts allowing free movement. Places of tourist interest in Mysuru like Mysore Palace, Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens opened. While the Palace, which was closed since April 24, was open from 10 am, the Zoo opened its doors at 8.30 am.

Except for theatres, cinema halls, swimming pools, markets and stadia, almost all venues opened up.

Market vendors protest 

However, the closure of markets while all the other businesses were allowed to open irked vendors at Devaraja Market who resorted to a flash protest. They later withdrew the same and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner citing loss of livelihood. 

Temples welcomed devotees as early as 6 am and starting with the Sri Chamundeshwari Temple atop Chamundi Hill, all the prominent temples including Tripurasundari Jwalamukhi Temple, Srikanteshwaraswamy Temple at Nanjangud, Ganapathi and Trinayaneshwara Swamy Temple inside Palace premises, Bandanthamma Temple at Kuvempunagar,  Sri Lakshmivenkataramana Swamy Temple at Vontikoppal, Amrutheshwara Swamy Temple and Panchamukhi Anjaneyaswamy Temple on Irwin Road reported rush of devotees. Only darshans were allowed and no special pujas were performed. 

Palace and Zoo

At the Palace, entry tickets were purchased from the counters at the entrance gates. Visitors were directed to maintain social distancing at the counters by standing in the square shaped boxes. Masks are compulsory and the entire tourist flow is monitored by CCTV cameras.

 Separate routes were earmarked on the Palace premises for entry and exit and arrangements were made for thermal scanning of tourists at the entrance. Sanitisers were made available to visitors at many points and before their entry and exit. Mysuru Zoo and Karanji Lake were also opened. Here too, there are strict measures so that all visitors adhere to COVID-appropriate behaviour. 

Clogged roads 

Apart from rush and series of traffic jams within the city on all roads like Sayyaji Rao Road, JLB Road, Ashoka Road, D. Devaraja Urs Road, K.R. Circle, Dhanvantri Road, bumper-to-bumper traffic was witnessed on the Mysuru-Bengaluru Highway. There was huge vehicle density on both sides of the road till Srirangapatna with bottlenecks witnessed at Columbia Asia Hospital Junction and Siddalingapura. 

At many stretches, the Traffic Policemen were struggling to operate the traffic signals with vehicles coming from all directions. Likewise, the Hunsur Road, H.D. Kote Road, Nanjangud Road, T. Narasipur Road, Bannur Road also witnessed heavy traffic in the morning.

The post Unlocked appeared first on Star of Mysore.

Mysore/Mysuru: By noon today, over 90 percent of shops in the Central Business District and also in the residential extensions were brimming with customers. Traders said that there was a great demand for textile products, electrical goods and other essentials.  Automobile showrooms, including two-wheelers, four-wheelers and autorickshaws too saw a steady stream of visitors. 

“Looks like customers were waiting for this day. They were unable to shop for two months except for essentials. All these days we were under losses and we opened yesterday to clean and dust. The business is good and we hope to do more business in the coming days as the uncertainty will end,” Rajendra, who owns a cloth store on Devaraj Urs Road, said. 

Jewellery merchants were happy to see customers again, especially after missing out on most of the wedding season and other auspicious occasions. “Normally people buy gold and silver jewellery during the wedding season and we missed out heavily.  We expect business to pick up in the upcoming weeks and also there is the next festive season,” said a jewellery showroom owner. Hotel and hospitality sector too opened on a full scale but with restrictions. People who were denied an opportunity for dine-in have now been allowed to eat on the table. Many hotels reported heavy footfalls as people preferred to eat their favourite meal that is served hot instead of eating parcelled cold food. 

All the manufacturing units and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) too opened from today with 100 percent workforce. Even the garments industry has been allowed to function with full capacity. 

But industries are expecting resumption of normal operations in the coming days as a lot depends on supply and demand of raw materials. Generally, raw materials come to Mysuru from other States and there might be a delay in transit, said industrialists.

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No separate rules for Mysuru; State curbs apply

Mysore/Mysuru: In a step towards further unlocking the State that has shown a decline in positivity rate, Karnataka Government last evening announced a slew of relaxations to COVID restrictions which will come into effect from 6 am tomorrow (July 5) till 9 pm across the State except Kodagu. These new rules will stay till July 19. 

There will be no special rules for Mysuru and the guidelines issued by the State will be followed, confirmed the City Police Commissioner Dr. Chandragupta. Speaking to SOM this morning, he said that rules issued by the State will be strictly adhered to and violators will be booked under Disaster Management Act. 

Violating shops, business establishments, hotels and mall managements will be booked and repeat violators will be asked to shut shop for 15 to 20 days, said an official from Mysuru City Corporation who did not want to be named. 

The relaxation comes after a terrifying second wave of the pandemic that brought most districts including Mysuru to a near standstill. From tomorrow, some level of normality will be restored with hotels, malls, shops, temples, religious places and offices reopening and daily life is expected to be back on track.

Bars and restaurants

While schools, colleges, theatres and cinema halls will be closed, bars and restaurants will be allowed to open till 9 pm. According to the new guidelines, all restaurants, malls and private offices can also open with full capacity. However, pubs will be allowed to provide only take away service. All public transport is allowed to operate up to its seating capacity. However, all educational institutions, tutorials and colleges would remain closed until further orders.

Public transport will be allowed to operate in full seating capacity, instead of the previous 50 percent rule. Night curfew would continue from 9 pm to 5 am till July 19.  

Swimming pools would be permitted for competitive training purposes only. Sports complexes and stadia would also be opened only for practice purposes. All social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions and other gatherings and large congregations would continue to be prohibited.

 Marriages and family functions involving not more than 100 people would be permitted and funerals would be allowed with a maximum of 20 people. Police, Corporations, Municipalities and Panchayats have been told to strictly enforce wearing of face masks, hand hygiene, and maintaining social distance.

Penal provisions

Non-wearing of masks attracted a fine of Rs. 250 in urban areas and Rs. 100 in rural areas. During the night curfew, patients and their attendants/ persons requiring emergency need for movement would be allowed to move.

All industries and companies which require operations at night would be permitted to operate and movement of employees of organisations would be allowed on producing valid ID card authorisation.

Movement of goods vehicles, buses, trains, and air travel have been permitted. Movement of public transport, private vehicles and taxis to and from airports, bus terminals, bus stands, railway stations, would be allowed on displaying valid travel documents during the curfew hours.

Hectic preparations at Zoo, temples, malls, hotels

Hectic preparations including cleaning, sanitising and arrangements as per social distancing norms are underway at temples, malls, hotels and Mysuru Zoo from this morning. All of them are opening after a gap of two months. 

“We are opening with a lot of expectations and we have suffered a loss of Rs. 20 crore per day when the entire hotel and hospitality industry is taken into consideration. We are ready to serve customers and are ensuring all COVID guidelines are adhered to,” Mysuru Hotel Owners Association President C. Narayanagowda told SOM. 

Sri Chamundeshwari Temple Executive Officer S.N. Yathiraj Sampathkumaran said that all measures are in place to welcome visitors. “As per the Government directions, there will be no sevas and special pujas, but all mandatory and traditional pujas performed to the Goddess will be there as a daily routine inside the sanctum sanctorum. Crowd-control measures have been put in place and the entire temple complex and railings have been sanitised,” he added. 

Malls have started cleaning as from tomorrow, all sections will be opened. Malls including B.M. Habitat Mall, Mall of Mysore and Garuda Mall were sanitised to welcome visitors with precautions. 

The Mysuru Zoo will open at 8.30 am tomorrow and the Zoo authorities have come up with their own guidelines. “We are done with cleaning and separate entrances have been made for visitors and staff. Disinfectant mats have been put up at the entrances and there will be mandatory screening of all visitors. Suspicious cases will not be allowed entry,” Zoo Executive Director Ajit M. Kulkarni said.

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To hold marathon meetings on COVID lockdown, law & order in Mysuru

Mysore/Mysuru: Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) Praveen Sood arrived in city this morning on a three-day visit. His visit at this time assumes significance as he is expected to review the COVID lockdown situation in Mysuru and also the law and order status. 

Sood, who had served as the Mysuru City Police Commissioner from 2003 to 2007, arrived this morning and was received at DG Suit located near the IGP Office by IGP (Southern Range) Praveen Madhukar Pawar. 

Among others present to receive the Top Cop were Karnataka Police Academy (KPA) Director Vipul Kumar, City Police Commissioner Dr. Chandragupta, Superintendent of Police (SP) R. Chethan, KSRP Commandant R. Janardhana and Police Training School-Mysuru Principal Dr. Dharanidevi Malagatti . 

The DG&IGP, after addressing Probationary Dy.SPs and PSIs at KPA, will visit Fifth Battalion of KSRP Mysuru later in the afternoon. He will stay in Mysuru today and on Monday, is scheduled to visit the City Police Commissioner’s Office and hold a meeting with senior officers of the district and city. Sood will leave for Bengaluru headquarters on Monday evening.

During his meetings, Sood will gather information about the law and order situation in the region and review the steps taken to maintain peace and also COVID lockdown enforcement. 

He is expected to check investigations conducted so far into serious and heinous crimes against women and children. 

Sources said that the law and order of the city and district would be reviewed and he will guide the Policemen to find anti-social elements and take steps against them as per law. He will also lay emphasis on  crushing the drug menace with an iron hand.

His visit will boost the morale of the Police during a pandemic situation at a time when many Police personnel in Southern Range including Mysuru, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Mandya and Hassan are infected by the virus and are recuperating at various stages of infection. 

He will take stock of the staff strength and availability of personnel and equipment for various tasks during future law and order challenges, sources added.

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Mysore/Mysuru: Despite weekend curfew in force till 5 am on July 5, there will be no curbs on the purchase of essential commodities tomorrow.

According to guidelines issued by the State Government, the weekend curfew has been in force on the entire State from 7 pm on Friday up to 5 am on Monday. Since Mysuru district has been elevated to Category-2 from Category-3, the shops such as grocery, fruits and vegetables, milk booths, meat stalls and other essential supplies can be opened from 6 am to 2 pm on Sunday. 

According to Divisional Controller, KSRTC, city and rural bus services will be available on Sunday but it will run on the number of passengers and demand. Though the bus service resumed on June 28, passengers were still hesitant to travel. As many as 120 buses are operated in city and 220 buses in rural areas.

However, restrictions will be in force for other activities like road-side vending, walking in parks, industries, movement of autorickshaw and cabs.

Police will continue to keep an eye on those who move around the city unnecessarily thereby flouting lockdown rules. 

Vehicles used for joy riding will be seized besides clamping case. The men in khaki will enquire who travel in private vehicles to reach Railway Station or Bus Stand for the outstation travel. The metal barricades will be placed on all main roads, important circles and junctions to check joy riding.

No clarity: There is no clarity whether citizens can travel in city buses following restriction on the public movement after 2 pm tomorrow. The guidelines permit travelling only on emergency work. At the same time, permission has been given to operate city and rural bus service. The order has been silent on alternative transport arrangements in the wake of restriction on autorickshaws and cabs. This needs to be clarified by the District Administration.

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