Karnataka sees less than 40K cases a day

For the second day, new Covid-19 cases reported in Karnataka were below the 40,000 mark, but the death rate still continued to be a worry. On Tuesday, the state recorded 39,510 new cases and 480 deaths, most of them in Bengaluru (259). Bengaluru recorded 15,879 new Covid cases.

Covid-related deaths remained high. On Monday, Karnataka posted the highest daily Covid deaths at 596 deaths. Bengaluru also recorded the highest number of deaths on Monday at 374. In the districts, Tumakuru reported 2,496 new cases, Mysuru 2,170, Ballari 1,558 and Mandya 1359. Udupi and Dakshina Kannada too reported a high of 1,083 and 1,084 respectively. On Tuesday, 22,584 Covid patients were discharged, leaving the state with 5,87,452 active cases. This continues to put the state's medical system under huge pressure.

Meanwhile, the state government on Tuesday said it will procure two crore Covid vaccine doses through global tender. This is to meet the increased demand and facilitate vaccination of those aged 18-44 years, Deputy Chief Minister and state Covid task force head, CN Ashwath Narayan, said.

First O2 Express chugs into Bengaluru The first Oxygen Express to Karnataka with six cryogenic containers chugged into the city's Whitefield railway station, an official said on Tuesday. "The Oxygen Express came from Tatanagar in Jharkhand's Jamshedpur," a Western Railway Zone official said. The railways created a signal-free green corridor for a non-stop run of the 1,833 km route from Tatanagar to Bengaluru, which was covered in nearly 30 hours.

Naval Ships reach Mangalore Port

A day after INS Kolkata brought 27 tonnes of oxygen and other essential material for COVID-19 treatment from Qatar and Kuwait, two more Indian Naval ships, Kochi and Tabar, reached New Mangalore Port on Tuesday with critical supplies including 100 tonnes of oxygen, a defence official said.

DRDO to set up O2 plants Bhubaneswar: To ensure availability of medical oxygen for treatment of

COVID-19 patients, the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has decided to set up seven medical oxygen plants in Odisha. The plants will come up at Boudh, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Gajapati, Jharsuguda, Nayagarh and Koraput districts, CGM of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Odisha, Ram Prasad Panda, said. The civil and electrical works of the plants will be done by NHAI while DRDO will look after the technical aspect, he said.