101 new COVID cases in K'taka;concerned about recent spike,but well prepared to handle: govt

(Eds: adding details)

Bengaluru, May 26 () The Karnataka government on Tuesday said it is concerned about the recent spike in number of cases, but is well prepared to handle the situation, as the state reported 101 cases of COVID-19, taking the total number of infections to 2,283.

"It (spike in cases) is definitely a cause of concern, but at the same time we are well prepared also," Minister S Suresh Kumar, who is spokesperson for COVID-19 in Karnataka, said in response to a question from reporters.

He said the total bed strength in the state for COVID-19 is 28,686, out of which 1,489 patients are in hospital at present, with a bed occupancy rate of around 5.1 per cent.

"...in fact we were given an indication that we may have 15,000-20,000 patients by now. We have 1,498 patients, but that does not mean that we are not concerned.

We are working out things, discussing with the Centre, more than 80 per cent cases are imported," he said, adding that there was no link between reviving economic activities with the spike in cases, as they are coming from outside.

As of May 26 evening, cumulatively 2,283 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 44 deaths and 748 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

It said that out of the 1,489 active cases, 1,471 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 18 are in Intensive Care Units.

Forty three patients were discharged on Tuesday.

Forty seven out of the 101 newly confirmed cases are returnees from neighboring Maharashtra, 21 from Tamil Nadu, 13 from Jharkhand and one from Gujarat, while four had an international travel history from Qatar.

The remaining cases include 10 contacts of patients already tested positive, two with a history of Influenza Like Illness (ILI), and one with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI).

Two patients contact history is still under tracing.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Chitradurga accounted for 20, followed by Yadgir 14, thirteen each from Belagavi and Hassan, Davangere 11, Bidar 10, Vijayapura 6, three each from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, two each from Bengaluru urban and Kolar, and one each from Bagalkote, Chikkaballapura, Koppal and Ballari.

Bengaluru urban district still tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 276 infections, followed by Mandya 254 and Kalaburagi 157.

Among discharges too, Bengaluru urban tops the list with total of 150, followed by Mysuru and Belagavi 88 each and Kalaburagi 73.

A total of 2,28,914 samples have been tested so far, out of which 9,020 were tested on Tuesday alone.

So far 2,23,477 samples have reported as negative, and out of them 8,169 reported negative on Tuesday.

As of date, 1,09,000 people are in institutional quarantine in Karnataka at various places like hostels, schools, hotels, while 10,000 are in home quarantine.

Out of the first 500 cases reported in the state between March 8 to April 24, 473 patients have been discharged so far, five are active cases undergoing treatment, and 22 deaths have occurred including one with non COVID reason.

Pointing out that domestic flight services have resumed since Monday, Minister Kumar said, till Tuesday morning 32 flights have landed from the red zone with 685 passengers, while two flights arrived from green zones with 47 passengers.

From May 14 till date, 12 trains have come to Bengaluru carrying 4,302 passengers. KSU APR RAVINDRANATH APR RAVINDRANATH