Karnataka to buy 1,000 ventilators, protective equipment as coronavirus cases rise
The Karnataka government has decided to purchase 1,000 ventilators from medical devices company Skanray Technologies and five lakh Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), amid rising COVID-19 cases.
The Karnataka government on Monday decided to purchase 1,000 ventilators from medical devices company Skanray Technologies and five lakh Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), amid rising COVID-19 cases.
Health Minister B Sriramulu convened a meeting with officials to review the situation in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, and with the Mysuru-based firm through a video conference.
"In the meeting, it was decided to buy 1,000 ventilators immediately," the Minister tweeted.
He said the government has already taken steps to buy 10 lakh masks, and decided to purchase five lakh PPE.
"The Health Department has been working on a war footing to halt the spread of the (COVID-19) infections", Sriramulu tweeted.
The minister appealed to the citizens to strictly follow social distancing.
Six new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Karnataka on Sunday, taking the total number of infections to the respiratory disease to 26 - the highest number of positive cases in a single day in the state.
The Karnataka government has announced shutdown of all commercial activities barring essential services in nine districts, where COVID-19 cases have been reported, till March 31.
They are Bengaluru city, Bengaluru Rural, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Dharwad, Chikkaballapura, Kodagu and Belagavi, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.
The centre and state governments have decided to completely lock down 80 districts across the country where coronavirus cases have been reported.
In view of the need to contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19, it was agreed that there was an urgent need to extend the restrictions on the movement of non-essential passenger transport.
Apart from Karnataka, the districts where lockdown was announced include Delhi,Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab,Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. Delhi will be locked down from 6 am on March 23 and continue till midnight on March 31.
Services of Ola and Uber will not be available in Delhi till March 31 amid the lockdown announced by the government to contain the spread of coronavirus infection.
(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)
(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)
