Karnataka news live: Bar dancer, 28, found murdered at her residence

A 28-year-old bar dancer from Chhattisgarh was murdered in her house in Nrupatunga Layout, RT Nagar. Zara Imtyiaz was found by her younger brother Mustafa in a pool of blood when he entered the locked house from the balcony on Saturday. Police suspect the assailant bludgeoned Zara to death and escaped from the balcony. The main door was locked from inside, indicating that the killer was known to her.

The Manipal Institute of Technology reported 126 fresh Covid-19 cases on Saturday. With this, the total number of infections at the institute has increased to 896. Separately, nine hostel students tested positive in Mysuru district. After a gap of some months, cases are rising in a number of districts. Udupi district reported 156 fresh cases on Saturday. Its active caseload stands at 737. Dakshina Kannada had 39 new cases, while Mysuru district recorded 131. Dakshina Kannada has reported more than 50 cases almost every day after March 15.

Residents of Bavansaundatti village in Belagavi district are worried after more than 40 cases were detected there in a week. With help of ASHA workers and health department staff, authorities collected samples of 256 residents. A week ago, 23 cases were reported in a single joint family. The district administration has linked the movement of people from Maharashtra to the case spike. Taluk health officer SS Baane said that villagers who had come in contact with Covid-19 patients had been asked to undergo tests and primary contacts had been advised home quarantine. Areas are being sanitised and people are advised to follow protocols.

The uptick in infections has affected the Election Commission and political parties’ preparations for the upcoming bypolls. Parties are concerned that restrictions aimed at preventing cases may limit campaigning activities and result in a lower voter turnout. The Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency and Basavakalyan and Maski assembly segments will go to the polls on April 17. All three places are seeing a rise in Covid-19 cases. Bidar district, which includes Basavakalyan, has a high positivity rate of 3.1 per cent. Its active cases climbed from 398 on Tuesday to nearly 500 on Saturday. In Belagavi, active cases increased from 187 to over 220 during the same period, and in Raichur district, which includes Maski, from 53 to 82. The government has notified guidelines for the bypolls after consulting experts. Health commissioner KV Thrilok Chandra said that election officials had been asked to implement the advisory strictly. Poll rallies were first limited to 500 people, but the latest rule is 15 people per gunta (around 1,000sqft) if the event is in the open. Officials said that numbers might to restricted further depending on the situation.

As the number of Covid-19 cases surge in Bengaluru, more young children are turning positive. This month, 472 kids aged below 10 have been diagnosed with the infection, and the number is expected to cross 500 over the weekend. Experts say the second wave has hit children hard as, unlike last year, many are spending time outdoors. Families, in general, are moving around a lot more, which has increased the chances of transmission.

With Karnataka now reporting more than 2,500 Covid-19 cases a day, experts have warned that the second wave could be severe. Health minister K Sudhakar also expressed concerns about the surge on Saturday. “There are about 2.8 lakh cases in Maharashtra, 24,000 in Kerala, 22,000 in Punjab and 19,000 in Karnataka. It is clear that the second wave has begun. If we don’t curb activities, the danger is imminent,” he said, urging citizens to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. He added that Karnataka’s daily positivity rate of 1.6 per cent was slightly higher than the national average of 1.5 per cent. According to epidemiologist Dr Giridhara R Babu, a member of the state technical advisory committee on Covid-19, multiple factors are at play and there are some unanswered questions. “We don’t know what proportion of the current cases are reinfections. We don’t know because the patients probably didn’t know it the first time in the absence of symptoms,” he said. Antibodies that work against coronavirus may have waned and the same strain may have resulted in reinfection.