Coronavirus: Karnataka Starts Stamping Quarantined Patients, Kodagu Reports First Case

Karnataka confirmed it's 15th case of Covid19 on Thursday in Kodagu. Health Minister B S Sriramulu confirmed the same in a tweet on Thursday morning (19 March) and said that the man had returned from Saudi Arabia and has been isolated at the designated hospital.

The state has seen five new cases in the last two days and in a bid to control the spread of the virus, the government has announced that the state will continue to be under lockdown until 31 March.

In an emergency high level meeting chaired by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa that was held on Wednesday (18 March), the state government decided to reserve Rs 200 crore for efforts to battle Corona.

Stamping of passengers arriving from Covid affected nations was also initiated on Wednesday and will continue until 15 April 2020. All passengers who will be quarantined thus will be stamped on the back of their left hand with the date of the last day mentioned on it.

The government has also instructed for the tracking of the phones of those who have been asked to begin home quarantine. This will ensure the home department is notified of any departure by the quarantined cases.

Mental health of positive cases confirmed so far as well as those on home quarantined is also being taken care of through counselling sessions. Around 2,230 counselling sessions have been held so far.

The government has also sough the disbanding of all non-emergency services at hospitals to avoid crowding and to aid in the handling of Corona cases. The Health and Family Welfare department has issued a notification for the same asking the public to stay away from hospitals, both private ad well as public, unless sick and requiring emergency care.

All outpatient, dental and elective cases, those with mild illnesses have been asked to not visit hospitals for the next two weeks or until further notice.