By Shankar Raj*
Karnataka to continue the night curfew and weekend lockdowns till the end of January
Mumbai/Bengaluru/New Delhi: Legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, 92, was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital on Saturday. She suffers from pneumonia and is also tested positive for Covid-19, according to a doctor treating her.
The news of her hospitalisation was broken today morning only. Her younger sister Usha Mangeshkar reportedly ruled out the possibility of she getting discharged soon.
Mumbai Mayor, Kishori Pednekar, informed the media that the singer was asymptomatic and was healthy.
Mumbai reported 11,647 new COVID-19 cases and 2 deaths in past 24 hours, while 1,68,063 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the country in the last 24 hours with the daily positivity rate being 10.64%.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in the mean time, was recovering well and was under home quarantine after he was tested positive of COVID-19 with mild symptoms yesterday. A team of doctors from Army Hospital (Research & Referral), Delhi Cantonment examined him at his residence in New Delhi today.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, whose health was in a spot of trouble for the Bharatiya Janata Party a few weeks back, was Tuesday shifted to a private hospital after he tested positive for Covid-19 Monday. According to doctors attending on him, the CM was showing only some mild symptoms and there was no problem as such.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Bommai and enquired about his health.
Bommai’s son and daughter-in-law also tested positive Tuesday, while his wife and daughter tested negative. Bharath Bommai, the CM’s son took to social media and said, “I have tested positive for Covid-19 with very mild symptoms. I have isolated myself at home. I would like the people who have come in contact with me to kindly get themselves tested.”
Since Bommai has been working from his residence and Home Office, all the staff of these offices have been tested and their reports are awaited.
Meanwhile, with a surge in cases, Karnataka has decided to continue the night curfew and weekend lockdowns till the end of January. The Chief Minister held a virtual meeting with members of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and other officials, regarding the third wave in Karnataka.
Karnataka on Tuesday registered 14,473 new Covid-19 infections along with five deaths. Bengaluru alone logged 10,800 new cases, taking the active case tally of the city to over 59,000.
The positivity rate in Karnataka stood at 10.30 per cent. The total number of active cases in the state is 73,260.
*Shankar Raj is former Editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs.
– with inputs from global bihari bureau
