BENGALURU: With over 860 Covid cases reported in Karnataka in the last 10 days, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday reviewed the state’s health preparedness and assured the public that there is no cause for concern, though precautionary measures must continue.
Chairing a high-level meeting, Siddaramaiah said that testing has been increased, with an average of 500 samples tested daily this month. In total, more than 5,000 samples were tested over the past 10 days, resulting in the detection of 862 positive cases.
He clarified that 11 deaths were reported among those who tested positive, but 10 of them were not due to Covid.
“Patients with pre-existing health conditions have died. There should be no unnecessary confusion about Covid-related deaths,” he said, adding that the audit report of one case is still pending.
The Chief Minister instructed all government hospitals to ensure they are fully equipped to manage Covid cases and emphasised the need for close coordination between the Health and Medical Education Departments. He also addressed complaints about private hospitals charging high fees for Covid tests and directed officials to investigate the matter.
Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao also reiterated that the recent deaths were not directly caused by Covid. “Audit reports of 10 cases confirmed that the deaths were due to other causes, such as heart disease and organ failure,” he said. “Only two Covid patients are currently in ICU care. The circulating variant is mild, and there is no panic situation.”
Rao added that compulsory Covid testing is being conducted for Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases and that expert committee meetings are ongoing to monitor the situation.