Over 1 lakh COVID-19 tests in K'taka; 41 new cases reported, total infections at 794

(Eds: Updates number of cases)

Bengaluru, May 9 () Karnataka has crossed the"milestone" of one lakh COVID-19 tests, the government said onSaturday as the state reported 41 new coronavirus positivecases, taking the total number of infections to 794.

"Karnataka crossed 1 lakh #COVID19 tests milestone.Our fight against Corona will continue with more zeal. We areboosting our testing capacity to have 60 labs by end of thismonth and will be able to conduct 10,000 tests per day,"state's Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said in a tweet.

A total of 1,03,098 samples were tested so far, out ofwhich 4,160 were tested on Saturday alone, the healthdepartment said in its bulletin.

It said, so far 97,326 samples have reported asnegative, and out of them 4,016 were reported negative onSaturday.

"As of 5:00 PM on May 9, cumulatively 794 COVID-19positive cases have been confirmed in the state, it includes30 deaths and 386 discharges," the bulletin said.

Out of 377 active cases, 371 patients are in isolationat designated hospitals and are stable, while 6 are in ICU.

Ten patients who have recovered, have been dischargedon Saturday.

According to statistics by Karnataka COVID war-room,75 per cent (596) of total 794 cases are asympomatic while 25per cent (198) are symptomatic.

The 41 new cases include- 12 from Bengaluru urban,eight from Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada, five from Davangere,three each from- Bantawal in Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga,Tumakuru and Bidar, and one each from Tumakuru, Davangere,Chikkaballapura and Vijayapura.

While most cases are contacts of patients alreadytested positive, six are with travel history to Ahmedabad, twoare from a containment zone in Bengaluru, and the other twoparson's contact is under tracing.

Contact tracing has been initiated and is in progressfor all the cases, the department said.

From across the state most number of infections havebeen reported in Bengaluru urban with 175 cases, followed byMysuru 88 and Belagavi 83.

Out of total 386 patients discharged so far, maximum86 are from Bengaluru urban, 83 from Mysuru, 34 from Belagavi.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has allowedgarment units in red zone districts, but outside containmentzones, to resume operations with one-third of the workforce.

Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar in the May 8 order,said all recognised garment factories having an Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) and those registered with the ApparelExport Promotion Council (AEPC) can start operations with one-third of the total workforce in red zone districts, butoutside containment zones.

It said the permission is subject to following of theStandard Operating Procedures.

Currently Bengaluru urban, Bengaluru rural and Mysuruare the red zone districts in the state.

The state government has clarified that migrantworkers, pilgrims, tourist, students and other persons canhire and use buses provided by state run road transportcorporations on payment basis for travel to other states withrelevant permissions.

Inter-State travel of migrant workers, pilgrims,tourist, students and other persons stranded in differentstates due to lockdown were recently permitted to travelthrough notified entry and exit points of Karnataka by thegovernment.

In a circular, Revenue (Disaster Management) PrincipalSecretary T K Anil Kumar said, similar bus facility on paymentbasis be made available by state run road transportcorporations to transport workers to industries permittedunder the issued guidelines. KSU SS