From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Oct 8: Chief minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday held a review meeting with deputy commissioners and zilla panchayat chief executive officers of 11 districts, including Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, with high Covid caseload on measures to contain the pandemic.
The chief minister conducted the meeting through video conferencing from Vidhana Soudha on Thursday.
The chief minister directed the district administrators to take concerted measures and sustained efforts to check primary and secondary contacts to curb the rise in Covid infections and embark on target oriented approach to conduct tests and provide treatments to check the rise in number of cases and also reduce the fatalities.
"People must be made to realize that compulsory wearing of masks, sanitization and social distancing were the only effective steps to curb the spread of the pandemic,’’ the chief minister said and emphasized the levy of fines on those found not wearing masks or maintaining social distancing norms were part of the measures of creating public awareness.
He made it clear that the state government was not interested in collecting money by levying fines but want to curb the spread of the pandemic. The officials should make the people to appreciate this fact, he said.
The chief minister said the state government was committed to provide all necessary facilities to the districts in tackling the spread of the pandemic. The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) norms must be strictly observed as part of the objective to bring down the fatality rate.
Yediyurappa directed dispatch of a special team of officials to Dharwad district in view of the high rate of fatality and take necessary steps to contain the Covid menace.
The chief minister wanted the districts increasing the Rapid Antegen Tests (RAT) and instead asked that RT-PCR tests must be increased. Those undergoing treatment at home must be provided with health diagnosis through tele-monitoring and supplied health kits.
As part of the drive to bring down the Covid positive cases, efforts must be made to increase the RT-PCR tests and the RAT can be carried out only when it becomes inevitable, he said.
The chief minister directed that death audit must be conducted in cases of deaths after 72 hours of being hospitalized. "This is necessary as 50% of the deaths in the state have occurred within the first 72 hours,’’ he said.
Clinical protocols must be strictly enforced to prevent spread of the pandemic in the rural areas, he said.
The chief minister said the state government has decided to observe the Dasara celebrations in a simple manner in Mysuru district and asked the district administration to submit a comprehensive report on the rise in Covid cases within a week.
The Dasara celebrations can be conducted in virtual mode, he said emphasizing that all precautions must be strictly taken.
He appreciated the efforts of the Shivamogga district administration in bringing down the Covid cases from 20% to 6% in the last few weeks. If the trend was continued in the coming days, the district could be a model for the entire state, he added,
Medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar, revenue minister R Ashok, home minister Basavaj Bommai, fisheries and muzrai minister Kota Srinivasa Poojary, chief secretary T M VijayaBhaskar, chief minister’s principal secretary Dr E V Ramana Reddy and other senior officials attended the meeting.
The districts that were selected for the meeting are: Ballari, Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Dharwad, Belagavi, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Bengaluru Urban.