Hotspot Belagavi district hopes to contain coronavirus by May 22
BELAGAVI: Belagavi district, which is said to have registered the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the State next to Bengaluru Urban, is set to breathe easy. The district administration which has expedited measures for rapid testing for COVID and tracing all suspected primary and secondary contacts is confident that the situation will be brought under control in Belagavi district by May 22, when the quarantine period of most of the people ends.
Claiming that the measures have been working effectively, Belagavi Deputy Commissioner S B Bommanahalli said on Monday. “We will denotify all the containment zones in Belagavi city by May 15 as most of the patients tested positive for COVID-19 have been discharged on recovery. Currently, Peeranwadi and Yellur are the two containment zones which will be freed shortly,’’ he said.
Stringent measures have been taken up on the state’s borders with Maharashtra to ensure that all those arriving from there are caught and tested before they are put under quarantine in their native districts. The police re on high alert on the border and so far held many of the groups of people trying to cross the border via various other routes.
The prime focus of the district administration is on Hirebagewadi and Kudchi from where most of the 107 cases are registered. The swabs of more than 1,300 people have been tested from Kudchi. Rajendra Cholan, District In-charge of COVID-19, said, about 7,000 people were tested in Belagavi, the highest number tested in any district in the State, besides Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, a resident of Kudchi who has tested negative twice during his 14-day quarantine period and discharged from the facility on May 5 has tested positive when his throat swab was tested for the third time. According to Dr Dastikoppa, Director of Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS), the patient was suffering from Ischemic heart disease besides being a diabetic. He said the patient was re-admitted after he tested positive and his condition is stable.