BENGALURU: Fourteen of the 30 districts in Karnataka have reported 10 or less COVID deaths from August 1-30, with experts attributing the low figures to the vaccination drive and the high number of tests being carried out. However, they said the state needs to maintain a close watch on the cluster breakouts that are being reported.
Of these 14 districts, Raichur, Yadgiri, Kalaburgi and Bidar reported one death each, while Gadag, Bagalkote and Koppal reported two deaths, Chikkaballapura reported three deaths, Ramanagara recorded four deaths, Vijaypura and Ballari reported six deaths, Chikkamagaluru reported eight deaths and Haveri and Chamarajanagara saw 10 deaths.
Other districts like Belgavi, Bengaluru Rural, Tumakuru, Uttar Kannada, Mandya, Kodagu and Shivamogga reported less than 30 deaths in the last month. The districts which saw high numbers were Dakshin Kannada with 137 deaths, Bengaluru Urban with 114, Hassan with 62 and Kolar with 54.
Dr Anoop Amarnath, Head, Scientific Board and Chairman-Geriatric Medicine, Manipal Hospital and member of the state's Critical Care Support Team (CCST), pointed out that during the E rounds, the CCST team has noted that amongst the admitted patients, the case severity is low, as people have got both doses of the vaccine. "The vaccinations have definitely helped bring down the severity and hence the mortality has come down. Also, the wave is tapering down and hence there are fewer cases and deaths," he said.
Commenting on border districts with high deaths like Dakshin Kannada, Dr Amarnath said, "The cases coming here are mostly travel related. This apart, Dakshin Kannada is one of the referral centres from other neighbouring districts and hence the cases can be reported here which would have later led to deaths. However in the E rounds since a week, we have noticed that the deaths have been settling down even in the border districts."
Dr C N Manjunath, director of Jayadeva Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research and the state's nodal testing officer, said the state needs to ensure there are no cluster outbreaks. "We are coming across cluster outbreaks, which were reported in Kolar and Bengaluru. This is where we need to be extremely careful and handle the clusters well, or else it would lead to community spread."
Dr Manjunath further added, "The low deaths detected are due to the high number of tests, with over 1.4 lakh tests being carried out and cases traced and isolated quickly. Keeping a strict vigil on the border districts has also helped to track down cases early."
The overall single-day deaths in Karnataka have been low. On August 1, the state reported 25 deaths and the figure has been hovering between 10 and 33 until August 30.