Alarmed by reports that 53 media persons have contracted coronavirus in Maharashtra, a Minister on Tuesday urged Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to screen all the journalists in Karnataka. During the regular COVID-19 related briefing on Monday, a reporter had raised the issue of 53 journalists in the neighbouring state testing positive for the disease, with Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar In Maharashtra, out of the 171 scribes examined medically, 53 were found to have the viral infection. In his letter to the CM, Kumar said a similar test should be carried on the journalists in Karnataka. “The journalists wanted a similar kind of screening to be carried out on them. Therefore, please direct the health and the information department immediately to conduct the screening of journalists who are in contact with public,” Kumar said.
The coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating threats to press freedom around the world, with authoritarian states including China and Iran suppressing details of the outbreak, activists said on Tuesday. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in its annual press freedom rankings the pandemic was “highlighting and amplifying the many crises” already casting a shadow on press freedom. The outbreak had encouraged some regimes to “take advantage of the fact people are stunned and mobilisation has weakened to impose measures that would be impossible to adopt in normal times”, RSF secretary general Christophe Deloire told AFP. The rankings saw few major changes from last year, with Nordic countries regarded as the most free and isolated states Turkmenistan and North Korea footing the list of 180 countries.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed concerns Tuesday that Japanese people haven’t followed social distancing measures as much as they’re supposed to under a state of emergency he declared two weeks ago to fight the spread of the coronavirus. Abe asked citizens to do more to prevent Japanese health care systems from collapsing. Abe made a stay-at-home request on April 7 to reduce social interactions by as much as 80% in an effort to limit infections. But surveys show movement of people was not down that much at major train stations, and even less in downtown areas where restaurants and grocery stores are still operating.
If you are aged 55-plus, have co-morbid conditions and now experiencing even slightest health discomfort, its time for coronavirus screening in Karnataka as the government is keen on pushing pre-emptive measures to check its spread. Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K, who is in-charge of all matters related to COVID-19, said on Tuesday the government would take it seriously even if such people feel uneasiness, tiredness or slightest of discomfort. We will do it (coronavirus test in such cases)we want to do it. We have issued guidelines for senior citizens, especially those with co-morbid conditions. Even if they have slightest discomfort, we want to take it seriously, the Minister said. Senior citizens (those above the age of 60) account for about seven per cent of the states population. The Minister also said about 2,300 real time reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (real time RT-PCR) tests, one of the most accurate laboratory methods for detecting, tracking, and studying the coronavirus, are being conducted a day in the State. The target is to ramp them up to a minimum of 10,000 a day by May 10, Sudhakar said. Seventeen people infected with coronavirus have lost their lives in Karnataka, which has reported 415 COVID-19 positive cases, including 114 discharges.
Pakistan on Tuesday reported 16 more deaths from the coronavirus, taking the country’s toll to 192, while the number of confirmed spiked to over 9,000. Prime Minister Imran Khan said his government was fully cognizant of the problems being faced by the people and making efforts to resolve their issues with the cooperation of the provincial governments. The Minister of National Health Services reported that 16 people died during the last 24 hours, taking the total toll to 192. The total number of confirmed cases reached 9,216 after 796 new infections were reported. On the positive side, 2,066 patients had fully recovered.
