Siddaramaiah says BJP netas inflating COVID vaccine price; 'mantris or brand ambassadors?'

Congress leader and former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accused South Bengaluru MP Tejasvi Surya of selling vaccines at a service charge of Rs 900 while the govt had reportedly ordered the charge to be capped at Rs 100. Attacking the BJP MP over the vaccination drive organised in his constituency, the former Karnataka CM asked the state govt if action will be taken against Tejasvi Surya for selling the COVID vaccine with an inflated service charge. Taking on Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar, Siddaramiah accused him of promoting private hospitals instead of ensuring vaccine availability in govt hospitals and asked if he was a Minister or the brand ambassador of a private hospital. Further, Siddaramaiah noted that the state govt had increased the vaccination service charge from Rs 100 to Rs 200 and questioned the BJP govt's intention, asking if it was to serve the public or private hospitals instead.

Siddaramaiah wants Karnataka govt to take action on Tejasvi Surya

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan has assured that no mixing of COVID-19 vaccines was taking place in the state after there were several speculations of vaccination with different doses of vaccines. Meanwhile, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar had said that the state would have a new COVID-19 discharge policy and post-COVID precautions in view of the rising cases of black fungus infection. He said, "It has been decided to formulate a new discharge policy and post-COVID precautions for patients who have recovered from COVID-19 infection."

Karnataka's COVID-19 situation

The total number of active COVID-19 cases in Karnataka fell below the four lakh mark, as the state on Friday reported 22,823 new cases and 401 deaths, the health department said. While the total number of COVID infections so far stands at 25,46,821, the toll is 27,806. The total number of active cases is now 3,72,373.

The day also saw 52,253 discharges, continuing to outnumber the fresh cases. Out of the 22,823 new cases reported on Friday, 5,736 were from Bengaluru Urban, as the city saw 31,237 discharges and 192 deaths. Cumulatively 25,46,821 cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 27,806 deaths and 21,46,621 discharges, the Health department said in a bulletin.

While the positivity rate for the day stood at 16.42 per cent, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 1.75 per cent. Out of the 401 deaths reported on Friday, 192 were from Bengaluru Urban, Mysuru (20), Ballari (17), Tumakuru (15), Dharwad (14), Hassan and Shivamogga (13), followed by others. Among the districts where new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 5,736, Mysuru 1,677, Tumakuru 1,326, Belagavi 1,319, Hassan 1,170, Shivamogga 1,135, while the rest were in other districts.