BENGALURU: With several people in India testing positive for coronavirus, Karnataka Minister for Health and Family Welfare B Sriramulu chaired a meeting with Department of Health and Family Welfare including Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar, Principal Secretary Jawaid Akhtar, Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey and others. In a press meet following the internal meeting on Tuesday, Sriramulu appealed to people to not panic and said that all precautionary measures were being taken to combat the virus. He said that people who travelled on flights, buses or worked and lived with coronavirus patients, are being quarantined at home and no positive cases have been reported so far.
The state has circulated guidelines to all district-level health authorities for prevention and control, with state and district rapid response teams on alert at state and district level involving medical colleges. Eight medical officers and 16 paramedical staff are present at Kempegowda International Airport. Ports of Mangaluru, Dakshina Kannada district and port of Karwar, Uttara Kannada district are being monitored and screened.
“There are 50 designated hospitals for isolation and treatment of coronavirus patients in Karnataka, including 31 government and 19 private hospitals. There are 246 beds and 50 ventilators, 1,462 N95 masks and 646 personal protective equipment,” the department said.
Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar visited Bengaluru Medical College & Research Institute on Tuesday to review coronavirus preparedness. He inspected coronavirus blood testing facility and held a review of the preparedness of the institute to handle patients with symptoms of the virus.