Articles by News Desk

Bengaluru City Police (BCP) had introduced a pass system to regulate the movement of people and vehicles during COVID-19 lockdown. But there has been much confusion on who is eligible for passes, how these can be availed, whether passes are needed during medical emergencies, and so on. BCP has released the following FAQ to respond to these questions. Q: Who does not need a pass? A: Here's the list of people who don't need a pass: Government officials on essential duty. They are permitted to travel to attend to their duties, but they must carry their department ID card. Medical…

Ola Cabs gives 500 vehicles to Karnataka for COVID activities  A tweet by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C N Aswath Narayan revealed that Ola Cabs had agreed to give 500 Ola vehicles for COVID-19 related activities to the Karnataka Government. These vehicles will be used by the government for facilitating the commute of doctors and other activities related to management of COVID-19.  The Deputy CM also specified that taxis, auto-rickshaws and other services shall not be permitted to transport passengers. The purpose of the said services during lockdown is only to transport doctors, essential commodities and support medical emergencies. Source:…

COVID-19: Count rises to 88 in Chennai, GCC and police launch corona-related apps The total number of COVID-positive patients in the state touched 485 on April 4rd with 88 of them in Chennai. In view of this, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has identified eight hotspot clusters and imposed stringent restrictions on people’s movement where the number of reported patients are reportedly more. The civic body has allocated 25-30 persons in each area to identify symptomatic cases. GCC has launched the‘Corona Monitoring App’ to track patients with fever symptoms to battle the virus. For people in quarantine, the Tamil Nadu…

As the city continues to be under lockdown, many people have questions on the eligibility and procedure of availing a pass for unavoidable travel. Stringent measures have been put in place in the city to enforce social distancing and the  policy of passes is also designed to ensure that even if people have to step out, it should not lead to crowding anywhere. Here is a guide that answers the most common queries around travel passes in Chennai: Who can issue a travel pass? The process has been centralised and only Collectors through Personal Assistant (General) for districts and the…

Bengaluru Urban among top 25 COVID hotspots Bengaluru Urban and Mysuru are among the top 25 COVID-19 hotspots in the country, whereas Chickballapur is fast emerging as one over the last fortnight. Bengaluru was also among the top seven cities with a high case load as of March 30. These observations were made by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in its 'COVID-19 Status Health Report'. The report also mentioned that Victoria Hospital was being developed as a dedicated COVID-19 facility with 1,200 isolation beds, 15 ICU beds, and 20 ventilators. V Ravi, senior professor at NIMHANS said…

COVID-19: 18 cases in Chennai, exclusive hospital comes up, GCC screens migrant workers In a bid to contain the spread of the virus, Greater Chennai Corporation is taking measures on a war footing. The Corporation has begun pasting stickers outside houses and apartments of people who have been home-quarantined. On March 28 morning, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in Tamil Nadu touched 40. Eighteen of them are positive patients (one recovered and discharged and one yet to be discharged) are admitted to hospitals in Chennai, according to the bulletin issued by the state health department on March 27.…

Earlier this week, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announced that all Indira Canteens in Bengaluru will remain open during the nationwide 21-day coronavirus lockdown. However, the next day, the opposite was stated in another announcement, that Indira Canteens will remain closed during lockdown to avoid assembly of people. This was a shock to many since providing food to the vulnerable population is critical at this point. After much public outcry, the government has again announced that Indira Canteens will remain open and provide food to street vendors, daily wage workers, and others who fall in the low-income category. The canteens will…

Lockdown tensions Just a few hours before the 21-day national lockdown started, there was a sudden rush of people trying to return to their hometowns, even though buses and other vehicles were off the roads. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had allowed a final window till Tuesday midnight by lifting the ban on inter-district movement that had been enforced since Monday. The move was apparently to enable people to celebrate Ugadi, but the rush undid social distancing. Moreover, several thousands were stuck at various toll booths. An official memo signed by the City Police Commissioner, Bhaskar Rao, revealed that passes…

The Bengaluru City Police (BCP) has introduced a pass system to regulate the movement of people during the 21-day lockdown that began at midnight on Monday. According to the BCP memo, passes would be issued at the offices of the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioners of Police (Law & Order) and would be made available 24/7 on the submission of a standard application form. Staff at DCP offices would be working in three shifts to issue these passes, the memo said. The memo, signed by city police commissioner Bhaskar Rao, said that two types of passes would be issued - one for…

Today, the BBMP Commissioner issued an order that applies to all apartments/gated communities/layouts in Bengaluru, so as to ensure social distancing and quarantining of citizens. The order directs BBMP officers to ensure that the following preventive measures are undertaken strictly. Spraying and fumigating apartment complexes, gated communities and layouts. Ensure there are hand sanitisers/soap solution at the entry and exit, and ensure that every person entering or exiting uses them to wash their hands. Ensure that the health of every person who enters/exits, is checked using a thermal sensor. If any one is found with a cough, cold or fever,…