In a shocking incident from Karnataka, a viral video shows pigs roaming around freely within a designated COVID-19 hospital in Kalaburagi.
The video shows a group of pigs walking through the corridors of the district hospital as staff of the hospital can be seen in the same frame, going about their work as if there was nothing unusual.
Soon after the video went viral, the Deputy Commissioner of Kalaburagi, Sharat B, visited the hospital on Saturday and ensured that the pigs were captured and directed local police to register a case against the owner of the pigs. TNM could not reach either the DC or the district health officer for a comment.
Tweeting on this, state Health Minister B Sriramulu acknowledged the incident on Saturday night. He said as soon as he came to know about the incident, he alerted the hospital authorities to take action.
He added that the pigs’ owners will be pulled up and all the pigs in the vicinity of the hospital were also captured. He said that the hospital authority has been advised to stay cautious about this issue in future.
ಇಂದು ಮಾಧ್ಯಮದಲ್ಲಿ ವರದಿಯಾದ, ಜಿಮ್ಸ್ ಆಸ್ಪತ್ರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹಂದಿಗಳು ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಂಡ ಪ್ರಕರಣ ಕಳೆದ ಮೂರು ದಿನಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ನಡೆದಿದೆ.
— B Sriramulu (@sriramulubjp) July 18, 2020
ಈ ಕುರಿತು ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಬಂದ ತಕ್ಷಣ, ಕೂಡಲೇ ಕ್ರಮ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳುವಂತೆ ಆಸ್ಪತ್ರೆಯ ಆಡಳಿತ ಮಂಡಳಿಗೆ ಸೂಚಿಸಲಾಗಿತ್ತು. 1/2
According to latest data as of Saturday evening, Kalaburagi has a total of 940 COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment and has seen a total of 43 deaths.
Reacting to the incident, Congress leader and party’s national coordinator for social media Lavanya Ballal said, “Under Sriramulu, the state COVID-19 management has literally gone to the pigs. If you want to be saved, only garlic and god can save you now.”
Recently Health Minister B Sriramulu had stirred a controversy when he said that “Only god can now save us” referring to the alarming rise of COVID-19 cases in the state. He later clarified that the state government is doing its best to contain the spread of the virus.
Incidentally, Kalaburagi was the district to report the first COVID-19 death of the country.