The High Court of Karnataka on Friday revised the hearing rules in the wake of rise in Omicron cases. Now, all hearings before Principal Bench at Bengaluru will be conducted virtually until further orders. Dharwad and Kalaburagi will hear cases in hybrid mode.
In a notification, the court said that in view of the rising number of cases of Omicron, "all hearings before the Principal Bench at Bengaluru shall be through virtual mode until further orders".
"In the benches at Dharwad and Kalaburagi, all the cases shall be heard by hybrid mode. In the benches at Dharwad and Kalaburagi, parties-in-person shall appear only through online mode and their physical appearance is not permitted," the order said.
Today, Karnataka reported 28,723 new Covid cases, including 20,121 in Bengaluru. There were 14 new fatalities (Bengaluru - seven), according to a bulletin issued by the Health Department.
"Highest testing since the beginning of pandemic with 2.21 lakh tests today," State Health and Medical Education Mnister K Sudhakar tweeted on Friday.
Positivity rate stood at 12.98% in the State, where there were 1,41,337 active cases, including close to 1.01 lakh in the city.
Sudhakar said although the cases are increasing by the day, only about five to 6% are getting hospitalised. “However, it is a matter of concern that nursing staff are getting infected. So we should not be complacent as it may overwhelm our health infrastructure," he said.
