Make testing must for Maharashtra returnees: Sudhakar to CM
BENGALURU: Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Tuesday said that he will discuss with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and try to make tests and 14-day quarantine mandatory for people returning from Maharashtra before they are sent home.
After reviewing the Covid situation in Hassan district on Tuesday, he said these suggestions have come from not just experts but also elected representatives as the state has witnessed a sudden spike in Covid-positive cases after a large number of people, mostly migrant workers, returned from Maharashtra. The proposal will also be discussed with Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy, he added. Now, Maharashtra returnees are allowed to go home after 14 days of mandatory institutional quarantine.
Dr Sudhakar said, “As on May 31, the state had 64 laboratories, which tested 3,04,816 people. Of them, 2,97,052 have ,tested negative, and only 3,408 are positive, which means that only one in every 100 people tested is positive. This positivity rate of 1% is among the lowest in the country. Even the morality rate in the state, at 1.5-2 per cent, is one of the lowest in the country and is lesser than the national average. As of today, only two patients are on ventilators.
” He said that the number of positive cases will see a big jump over the next few days after the lockdown norms are further eased and people are allowed to travel freely by train. But people should not worry as the state government has made necessary arrangements to treat 1.5 lakh cases at any point of time in the coming days. Cases are bound to increase as the government has stepped up testing of samples over the last few days, he added. A memorandum of understanding has been signed with premier national institutions and universities to study the immunity of Indians to coronavirus as over 80% positive cases are asymptomatic, he said.