"All need to take those precautions": Karnataka Home Minister on HMPV cases in state

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 7 : Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara addressed concerns over the HMPV virus, stating that health experts have assured that the virus is not dangerous.
Speaking to the media, Parameshwara said, "The doctors and the specialists are saying that this is not a dangerous one but precautions have already been instructed by the health department. We all need to take those precautions..."
In addition to addressing the virus issue, Parameshwara also reacted to recent allegations made by former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy regarding the dinner meetings he attended with political colleagues. Kumaraswamy had insinuated that the meetings had political motivations, but the Home Minister firmly dismissed these claims.
"HD Kumaraswamy's allegations may be politically motivated (over dinner politics). There is no politics. We just met for the New Year's. Me and SC/ST representatives are meeting tomorrow as we plan to hold a SC/ST Convention. We had organised one before elections. There is no politics around this," Parameshwara clarified.
The Minister's comments come in the wake of HD Kumaraswamy's remarks suggesting that the dinner meetings were politically motivated, a claim Parameshwara has categorically denied. He emphasized that the focus of the meetings was purely on community welfare, specifically organizing the upcoming SC/ST Convention.
Earlier, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the dinner meets are commonplace in politics and there was no need to read too much into it.
"It is common for politicians to attend dinner meets. I also organise dinner meets frequently. The media should not politicise the dinner meet. I had travelled abroad with the family as I had not travelled with them for the last 4-5 years," he said speaking to reporters.
He was replying to questions on the potential political motive behind Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's dinner meet while the Deputy CM was out of the country.
He also replied to the queries regarding the HMPV virus in a 8-month-old baby saying that the health minister is working the matter and that "there is no need to worry about it. The government is alert."