BENGALURU: Nearly 41 per cent or 1,398 cases of the total 3,408 Covid-positives in Karnataka as on June 1 are those housed at quarantine centres across the state, showed data from the Health and Family Welfare Department. These include domestic and international travellers whose swabs were taken on arrival, as well as primary and secondary contacts of confirmed patients.
Experts said that this indicates how important quarantining is in the current situation of people coming in from all states. Dr MK Sudarshan, a public health expert who is also a member of one of the Covid-19 committees advising the state government, said, “Most of these cases are of people from Maharashtra and from big cities like Mumbai and Pune. They are largely asymptomatic and have been institutionally quarantined and subsequently home quarantined after testing negative.
Under the circumstance, we can only conduct more tests, declare results and extend home quarantine to 14 days if required for those returning from Maharashtra. Home quarantine has by far been very effective in Karnataka.” Majority of these Covid-positive cases from quarantine centres are from Yadgir with 282 positives. The district has the third-highest number of positive patients in the state with 285 cases as of June 1. The state has 1,542 quarantine centres, which are currently housing around 15,000 people. Of these, 150 centres, including over 100 hotels, are in Bengaluru.
In all, 78 people in Bengaluru Urban district tested positive from quarantine centres, of the total 385 positive cases as on Monday. Other districts with a significant number of people testing positive from quarantine centres are Kalaburagi 184, Hassan 144, Chikkaballapur 126, Davanagere 112 and Vijayapura 90. Maharashtra travellers alone account for 1,822 cases.
As per the latest quarantine rules, symptomatic travellers on arrival will be institutional quarantined for seven days, followed by seven days of home quarantine, if they test negative. Asymptomatic travellers are sent to 14-day home quarantine. But asymptomatic travellers from Maharashtra are sent for seven-day institutional quarantine and seven-day home quarantine.
PATIENTS TESTED POSITIVE IN QUARANTINE CENTRES
Haveri - 3
Yadagir -282
Kalaburagi - 184
Chikkamagaluru - 16
Gadag - 24
Udupi - 53
Mysuru - 5
Chikkaballapur - 126
Chitradurga - 37
Bengaluru Urban - 78
Hassan - 144
Davanagere - 112
Ballari - 37
Belagavi - 76
Tumakuru - 18
Koppal - 3
Bengaluru Rural - 6
Vijayapura - 90
Uttara Kannada - 41
Dakshina Kannada - 63
Total - 1,398