JOIN USCovid-19 surge was expected later, not now: Karnataka Minister K Sudhakar
Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Wednesday said the significant rise in Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru was not in line with what the government had projected or expected.
"In Bengaluru, we knew that the cases would go up soon after the lockdown was relaxed. But such a big rise (in cases) did not figure in the information we had with us. These numbers were for July-end, but they came now,” Sudhakar said.
“Still, there’s no need for panic and we’re making all arrangements. There may be minor shortcomings, but we will address them going forward,” he added.
Of the total 26,815 Covid-19 positive cases recorded in Karnataka so far, over 11,500 have been reported in the last seven days. In Bengaluru, nearly 60% of the total 11,361 cases came in the past one week.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa huddled with Sudhakar, Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan and others to take stock of the situation.
They discussed the preparations at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) that is being turned into a Covid Care Centre. “We will have 10,000 beds at BIEC and other basic infrastructure. We also discussed food, hygiene, doctors and health staff that will be required,” Sudhakar said. “We already have 2,000 beds at the Covid Care Centres that are operational. Every day, 200-300 people are getting admitted and the same number of people are getting discharged.”
The government will need more than 1,000 doctors and health professionals at BIEC. “We will need at least one doctor for every 100 people. So, for 10,000, we will need 1,000 people. We’d need 1,500 people in all to work in shifts. I’m calling for a meeting of the medical education department to discuss how this can be arranged,” Sudhakar said.
The minister also clarified that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients do not require an ambulance to be taken to a Covid Care Centre. “A tempo traveller or any other vehicle will do as the patients are asymptomatic...let there be no misunderstanding on this,” he said.
The government is also working on streamlining the process of transporting patients. Some 500 vehicles will be arranged in Bengaluru to ferry patients, Sudhakar said. “In two days, this will be integrated into the dashboard at our war room. As soon as a positive, symptomatic case is reported, the patient will get a call from the war room with details on when s/he will be picked up. This will be done scientifically without any scope for laxity,” he said.