Belagavi, Jun 5 (IANS): Hours after Karnataka Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar announced that state board's Class 10 (Secondary School Leaving Certificate/SSLC) examinations will be held in third week of July, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Friday clarified that these will be held only if the pandemic comes under absolute control.

Yediyurappa, who is on a day-long tour in Belagavi and Dharwad districts to take stock of the pandemic preparedness, told reporters that SSLC students and their parents need not panic over the announcement of examinations.

"As the minister has already stated, no student appearing for SSLC examinations will be failed," he said.

He noted that even the examinations for this crucial year will only be held if the Covid situation comes under control.

During his review meeting in Belagavi, he said that the state government would appoint an administrator to monitor the affairs of the Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS), which has been designated as a Covid care hospital.

BIMS Director, Vinay Dastikopp, has been sent on leave following complaints of negligence in Covid management.

Yediyurappa drove to the Suvarna Soudha to hold a meeting of officers relating to Covid management. He also said he would take steps to ensure that sugar factories paid arrears to farmers.

The Chief Minister also visited the RSS office on Goods Shed Road to meet senior pracharak Sriharibhau Vajhe, as the 86-year-old has been ailing for some time due to age-related reasons.

While reviewing Covid preparedness in Dharwad district, Yediyurappa said that the state government had received 9,000 vials of anti-fungal drug Amphotericin-B, used in the treatment of mucormycosis, or black fungus, which will be distributed equally based on the infection levels in all districts.

He added that the Dharwad administration must strive hard to bring down the case positivity rate from 11.9 per cent to five per cent.

"Unless the positivity rate comes down to 5 per cent which is a benchmark set by experts, we cannot relax ongoing lockdown measures," he warned.

Meanwhile Health Minister K. Sudhakar announced that the state government would henceforth consider all those who die of severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) infection as Covid deaths.

"The state government will also take steps so that orphan children of those parents who died of SARI would also be considered under the Covid relief package," he said.