COVID-19: ‘Maha’ link haunts Mandya district

Mandya district recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. A total of 71 people tested positive for the virus, including 38 male and 33 female. All have a travel history to Mumbai, Maharashtra.

With 160 cases, Mandya district is in the second position in the State, after Bengaluru Urban. Out of this, 104 cases are from K R Pet taluk, which has become the first taluk with more than 100 positive cases.

The Maharashtra link has turned into a headache for the district administration, as thousands of migrants are entering the district every day. Most of the migrants are returning to K R Pet and Nagamangala taluks. The district administration has made all arrangements to shift the migrants to quarantine facility directly from the checkposts, as a precautionary measure. They are being subject to COVID-19 tests and the number of positive cases has been rising since the last week.

The number of positive cases in Mandya district was 36, as on May 14. The spike in the number of cases after that had increased the tally to 89 on May 18. On Tuesday, 71 fresh cases were confirmed positive, the highest so far. With this, the total number of cases in the tally is 160. According to the district administration, 21 people have been recovered and discharged and, there are 139 active cases.

Meanwhile, a section of the people have alleged that District In-charge Minister Narayana Gowda is responsible for the sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases in Mandya district.

Umashankar, president of a Kannada organisation alleged that the minister’s contacts with Mumbai, is the reason for the people returning in hordes to the district. Deputy Commissioner M V Venkatesh has failed in controlling the spread of pandemic. Many have been entering the district secretly, he said.

Hassan district too reported three positive cases, on Tuesday. Three from the same family, including two female and a male have tested positive. All have a travel history to Mumbai. The total number of cases is 33 in the district.