Karnataka sets up mini libraries for COVID-19 patients in Sagar, Shivamogga

Karnataka has installed mini-libraries in COVID-19 wards of the McGann district hospital and the Sagara Taluk sub-division hospital in Shivamogga. The State Health Department’s employee union took the initiative to provide quarantined COVID-19 patients with a leisure activity provision by setting up bookshelves in order to cater to their mental wellbeing as they recover from the coronavirus. Dr. Sridhar, Director of the Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) and the McGann district hospital told ANI "that the libraries were set up so that patients can relax."

"Many patients here are under a lot of stress and are anxious about their sickness. Reading will help them relax and will distract them from stressful thoughts," ANI quoted Dr. Sridhar. He further added that about a thousand books were placed inside the wards for leisure reading which were given as gifts to the hospital as a gesture by printers, publishers, and bookshops nearby.

As of October 10, Karnataka added over 9,250 infections, witnessing a lowering trajectory attributed to the deviations in the tally. The state registered over 10,913 confirmed cases of the coronavirus with 114 fatalities. Karnataka’s caseload is put at a total of 6.8 lakh, of which 9675 casualties have been recorded from the malignant respiratory ailment. 

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Central government’s containment

Thus far, local reports put the virus-related death toll at 33 per cent, while the state has the second-highest COVID-19 infections behind Maharashtra state. Recently, chief minister B S Yediyurappa announced in a meeting with the district collectors (DCs) that he will impose central government’s drafted safety measures to stem the transmission, having reviewed disease spread situation across Bellary, Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Dharwad, Belagavi, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Tumkuru, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts. 

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(Image Credits and Input: ANI)