BENGALURU: Taking note of the rising Covid-19 cases in Karnataka, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has shot off a letter to the state health department saying that testing has come down in seven districts and cases have shot up in 24 districts in a span of one week. The ministry has referred to cases rising in the week ending August 24 as compared to the week ending July 28.
Interestingly, while Bengaluru Rural is listed in both categories, Bengaluru Urban is not on the list. An official in the state health department said, “Bengaluru contributes to 90-95 per cent of the caseload. But it does not figure out because, despite the testing target being met, cases are rising. This is due to the floating population, change in weather conditions and lesser cases reaching hospitals.”
The official admitted that Bengaluru Rural being listed in both categories is a cause for concern as the region had done well in vaccination and testing. Also, since many staying in Bengaluru Rural come to urban areas for work or travel overseas, more caution will now have to be exercised here, when compared to Bengaluru Urban jurisdiction.
In the letter addressed by Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to the Principal Secretary of the department T K Anil Kumar, he stated: “Karnataka has been reporting higher average daily new cases since the past one month (1,355 average cases per day), with a high of 1,992 cases reported on August 5. The state contributes to 10.1 per cent of India’s weekly new cases during the same period. It has recorded 1.28 times increase in average daily new cases from 1,435 to 1,837 and the positivity rate has increased from 5.30 per cent to 6.28 per cent.
The ministry listed - Chikkamagaluru, Bagalkote, Koppal, Ramanagara, Haveri, Kalaburgi and Bengaluru Rural where testing has dropped. It listed Mysuru, Belagavi, Hassan, Bengaluru Rural, Kalaburgi, Tumakuru, Mandya, Ballari, Kodagu, Kolar, Raichur, Bagalkote, Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Chamarajanagara, Davangere, Bidar, Udupi, Haveri, Koppal, Chikkamagaluru, Gadag, Chitradurga and Ramanagara - where cases have increased by 1.03-2.88 times.
A state health department official reacted: “Karnataka’s testing target set by Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) is 30,000, but 28,000- 29,000 are being done. In some districts, testing is not being done for all but is limited to hospitals. The rise in cases is because of the Omicron variant. We had expected a fourth wave to hit and this could be it. But we do not want to create panic or alarm as cases reaching hospitals are fewer. People are reporting body ache, cold and fever.”