As Karnataka gears up for festive season, experts ring alarm bells on covid reinfections, breakthrough cases

News Network
September 10, 2021

Bengaluru, Sept 10: Experts have urged the Karnataka government to take measures to prevent reinfections of coronavirus as the people are gearing up for the festive season of October-November. They also have sought a third dose of the covid-19 vaccine during the year-end months to effectively protect people. 

Those who were infected during the second wave of covid-19 in summer this year may be vulnerable to reinfections as the antibodies could wane after six months, experts said.

They also predicted about 10 per cent of breakthrough infections, that is when the coronavirus overpowers the antibodies induced by a vaccine. 

Cases have been on the rise in isolated parts of the world, mainly due to the infectious Delta variant of the virus. This surge has renewed focus on a widely predicted third wave of infections in India, with children reportedly being the key targets.

“It is important to keep a close watch on the situation till November mainly because of the possibility of a surge in reinfection,” said Dr MK Sudarshan, chairman, state Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). He further sought adequate measures from the government to arrest a surge while advising people to not let their guard down. 

The coming months become more crucial as the massive infections in the second wave leave a big part of the population susceptible to reinfections. As many as 16 lakh people contracted the virus in the state in April and May alone, about half of them in Bengaluru. 

Sudarshan told the publication that by November, a clearer picture of the pandemic may appear but until then, all precautions have to be taken seriously. 

These expert alarms also come amid increasing pressure on the state government to ease restrictions amid the festive season, like the night curfew, which has been extended till the month-end by Basavaraj Bommai administration. 

As previously reported, a third wave, if struck, won't be as deadly as the second since a significant number of people have been inoculated with at least one dose of vaccine. And experts say reinfections or breakthrough cases won't nearly be as serious and may not even require hospitalisation. 

Virologist T Jacob John called for a third dose of the vaccine, or also called the 'booster shots' in other parts of the world, to prevent infections. "With the present supply and a little ramping up of production, the government can easily ensure the continuation of the vaccination drive and cover everyone with a third dose,” said John, expecting demand worries to ease in November following the expected completion of first-dose vaccination of the target population. 

Health officials told the publication that they are awaiting a signal from the Centre on further guidelines. “We have no instructions either from the Centre or ICMR on measures like a third dose. We have to see how it pans out in October-November and take steps based on the emerging situation,” said K V Trilok Chandra, Health Commissioner.

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News Network
March 14,2024

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The high-level committee on simultaneous elections, chaired by Ram Nath Kovind, on Thursday met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan and submitted its report on 'One Nation, One Election'. The report comprises 18,626 pages.

Home Minister Amit Shah was also present at Rashtrapati Bhawan when Kovind led panel submitted the report.

"Simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assemblies can be held in first step, followed by local body polls within 100 days in second step," reported PTI quoting the panel.

"Synchronised polls for all three tiers of government to improve governance architecture, in line with quest of aspirational India," it added.

The report has been submitted 191 days after the constitution of the panel on September 2, 2023.

It's further reported that the proposal also puts focus on having a singular electoral roll for holding Lok Sabha, state assembly and local body polls.

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News Network
March 19,2024

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Mangaluru: The Mangalore International Airport (MIA) will connect to a new domestic destination with the introduction of a non-stop flight to Tiruchirappalli International Airport in Tamil Nadu. 

The non-stop service, once-a-week, will operate on Wednesday (from TIA) and Thursday (from MIA), starting April 3. Air India Express will operate the flight.

The flight is expected to help those taking up a pilgrimage to Vailankani shrine.

Sources from the AIE said that the airline carrier decided to fly non-stop between the two southern Indian cities as a flight to Jeddah, which will start from April 3, arrives from Tiruchirappalli International Airport. 

“It is a ferry or positional flight from TIA to MIA. Instead of flying empty, the management has decided to run it as a commercial flight. This will help both passengers and the airline. The airline will deploy Boeing 737-800 aircraft with a 186-seater all-economy configuration on this route. 

The same flight, after landing in MIA, will further fly to Jeddah,” a source said. 

The flight IX 1498 will depart every Thursday at 5am from MIA to TIA. The TIA-MIA flight IX 1499 departs at 12.50pm. It is a one-hour nonstop flight. The same flights will also operate nonstop between Jeddah and MIA. 

The non-stop flight IX 499 will depart MIA at 2.50pm and reach King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah at 6.25pm. The IX498, will depart from Jeddah at 7.25pm and reach MIA early at 3.40am.

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News Network
March 15,2024

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Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi would formally kickstart the BJP's Lok Sabha election campaign in Karnataka on Saturday from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's home turf— Kalaburagi.

He is scheduled to address a mega public meeting at the district headquarters town's N V Ground at 2 pm.

Kharge, who had represented Kalaburagi (Gulbarga Lok Sabha segment) twice in the past, lost to BJP's Umesh Jadhav by a margin of 95,452 votes in the 2019 general elections here— the octogenarian leader's first electoral loss in his political life spanning several decades.

BJP has once again fielded Jadhav from the segment.

Speculations are rife that the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, who has the role of managing the party nationally and coordinating with the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc, may not contest the coming polls and, instead, the Congress is likely to field his son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani, a businessman, who also manages educational institutions.

On March 18, Modi will be in Shivamogga, the home district of veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, and is scheduled to address a huge public meeting at 2 pm.

Yediyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra is the sitting MP from Shivamogga and has been re-nominated by the party. Yediyurappa's other son B Y Vijayendra, who represents Shikaripura assembly constituency in the district, is the state BJP President.

BJP has announced candidates for 20 seats in the State, which has a total of 28 constituencies.

After being ousted from power by the Congress in the 2023 Assembly polls, the BJP now is making a strong bid to regain the lost ground in Karnataka.

The BJP won 25 out of total 28 seats in the previous elections, and had ensured the win of a party supported independent candidate in Mandya. The then ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance had come a cropper winning just one seat each.

It is a role reversal of sorts for JD(S), which joined the NDA last September and has forged an electoral alliance with the BJP. The regional party is expected to contest in three seats— Mandya, Hassan and Kolar.

Sharing details of Modi's visit, state BJP General Secretary Sunil Kumar on Wednesday said BJP National President J P Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath along with other leaders will visit different Lok Sabha constituencies for campaigning in the coming days.

Speaking about the party's poll preparations, he said: "We have divided 28 Lok Sabha constituencies into eight clusters for Lok Sabha elections. Keeping in view the local political and geographical background, programmes and strategies are being worked out in those eight clusters."

Several senior leaders including Shah and Nadda have already visited one of these clusters, Kumar said, adding, "Workers' convention, well-wishers' contacts have been made and election preparations are on in all these eight clusters. In the second phase, large public meetings will be held."

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