MANGALURU: Udupi district saw its biggest COVID-19 spike on Tuesday with over 230 cases, a majority of them coming from Kundapur taluk. Sources in the health department said Kundapur alone reported over 200 cases while the rest are from Udupi and Karkala taluk. The fresh cases have taken the district's tally close to 500 which is the highest in the state.
Though district authorities attribute the huge influx of people from Maharashtra and the high number of tests conducted in the district for the sharp rise in cases, sources said the poor quarantine facilities in the district especially in Kundapur taluk are also to blame.
They said in some quarantine facilities, four persons were seen sharing a room and social distancing is also not maintained due to poor monitoring by the authorities.
Till May 30, over 8,000 persons had entered Udupi district from Maharashtra alone, out of which over 5,000 have been tested so far. After the new inter-state guidelines came into effect on June 1, a majority of those who had completed seven days of institutional quarantine were allowed to go home.
Sources said most of those who tested positive on Tuesday were at their homes after finishing institutional quarantine and are being shifted to the district COVID-19 hospital for treatment. The process of identifying their primary and second contacts is on.