pic: Bikashrd on Wikimedia Commons
Karnataka has always proved to be one of the first states to adopt and implement technology and innovation for the betterment of its people. It has used technology to its advantage from Day 1 to fight against COVID-19 in terms of providing help from the control rooms and helplines and even allocating beds. Technology played a key role to tackle the pandemic in Karnataka.
Test Positivity Rate (TPR) will play a key role in easing relaxations
Easing relaxations in different districts of Karnataka will be decided on the basis of factors like test positivity rate. Currently, the government is only planning to ease restrictions in the district that has a TPR below five percent. Out of 30 districts of Karnataka, only nine districts have a TPR below 5%. Bengaluru is one of the nine districts which might see one ease in the relaxation. Four districts have a TPR above 10% and the rest of the districts have a TPR that lies between 5 to 10%.
What are the current relaxations in Karnataka?
The falling economy has already forced Karnataka to ease some of its restrictions. Currently, the industries are operating at 50% of their capacity excluding the garment industry which is working at 30% of its capacity. Additionally, relaxations are provided to essential shops which now include street vendors till 2 PM. Previously, they were allowed to function only till 4 AM. Further, 40 guests can attend the wedding in different venues. Construction activities are now allowed and also, the shops which sell construction materials are permitted to be open. Parks will remain open from 5 AM to 10 AM and public vehicles like taxis and auto are allowed to carry a maximum of two passengers. Most of the important departments of the government will function at 50% capacity. Dine-in options are still not available for hotels and restaurants and they will need to continue with their parcel services. The government is still deciding whether the dine-in option should be made available or not right now.
Karnataka handles oxygen allocation smoothly
Israel helped Karnataka with two Pressure Swing Absorption oxygen generation plants. These oxygen plants have been set up in the district and government hospitals in Kolar Gold Fields and Yadgir. Further, with the support of the Defence Research and Development Organization, CV Raman Hospital, ESI Medical Hospital and Koppal Institute of Medical Science are getting 1,000 litres of oxygen per minute from the PSA plants. In addition, the Government of India helped the state with 380 oxygen cylinders and 800 oxygen concentrators. Karnataka further received 4000 MT oxygen via 31 oxygen express trains. Karnataka also launched ‘OxyBus’ to help the COVID-19 patients at the time of emergency. OxyBus has been described as a makeshift solution. It is a public bus fitted with an oxygen cylinder and capable of taking care of eight patients simultaneously with oxygen. Many crucial COVID-19 patients have benefitted from OxyBus during emergencies. 20 OxyBuses have been provided outside all the major government hospitals of the state. KSRTC, the state transport operator, has provided their buses for this initiative. Karnataka has been doing extremely well in managing the health sector. Three kids also managed to get a 16-crore injection a week ago by winning them in a lottery-like Lottery Sambad. While participating in lotteries, it is important to keep checking the Teer Result for the live update. The injection will be used for treating Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a rare disease.
Karnataka is using technology to fight COVID-19 efficiently
Karnataka has its very own application to enable easy contract tracing of the COVID-19 patients which identifies both the primary and secondary contacts of the patent. Further, the state has developed Corona watch which tracks the history of the patient’s movement in the last 14 days. It also rolled out Sega Sindhu Portal, which Karnataka people used for getting e-Pass during the different periods of lockdown. Another application named Karnataka Health Watch was used for real-time data for identifying the vulnerable population.
Apthamitra Helpline was launched for free teleconsultation
Apthamitra Helpline was launched by the state to provide people with medium to high-risk infection a free teleconsultation that ensured timely screening, testing, and then, finally, treatment. Further, with the help of technology, it was easy to track the vulnerable districts which further, became helpful for relaxation of lockdown in a graded manner.
