BENGALURU: As the novel coronavirus threatens to drive India to Stage 3, two MLAs who are qualified medical practitioners, are considering volunteering to help the people of the state. This comes at a time when visuals of an MLA from Kerala carrying a sack of grains are doing the rounds on social media, with people asking what Karnataka MLAs are doing.
Dr Ranganath, who gave up medical practice to contest elections and is MLA from Kunigal, about 70 km from Bengaluru, told The New Indian Express that he is willing to serve as a doctor in any centre where he may be needed, as there is a need for health workers at all levels -- from OPDs to ICUs.
Ranganath is the brother-inlaw of KPCC president DK Shivakumar. He heads an operation to ensure food is delivered to the homes of the poor every day through a supply network. Son of former CM Siddaramaiah and Varuna MLA Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah too volunteered to help, saying, “If there is a need, I am willing to serve as a doctor.” Dr Yathindra, a trained pathologist, said there are only 500 test kits in Mysuru which are being used for people who have had primary or secondary contact with COVID-19 patients, or people with severe flu-like symptoms.
There are only 15 ventilators in Mysuru, and the administration has assured me that it will get 22 more, he said. Clearly, there is a need to get more testing kits and ventilators. Ranganath said the number of positive cases could be low is because there is a shortage of test kits, If more kits are available at this critical stage, the numbers could be much higher.
He added that the government needs to deal with the coronavirus pandemic with knowledge and experience gathered from across the world. He suggested that people aged over 70 could be segregated even in families. Yathindra was concerned about the order to quarantine about 1,000 people who came in contact with a COVID victim in Nanjangud. He said they must diligently quarantine themselves, otherwise the fight to contain the virus could get more difficult. He said that the poor in many areas faced a huge food shortage, and asked the authorities to do away with unnecessary restrictions like OTP numbers to receive rations.