<p>Karnataka on Wednesday reported 2,062 new Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day spike so far since the start of the pandemic. The state also reported a record 54 deaths, which raised the total toll to 474. </p>.<p>A 14-year-old from Bengaluru was among the 23 who succumbed to the disease in the state capital. The city saw 1,148 cases on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said that the Covid surge, especially in Bengaluru, came much earlier than what the government had projected or expected. </p>.<p>“In Bengaluru, we knew the cases would go up soon after the lockdown was relaxed. But such a big rise did not figure in the information we had with us. These numbers were for July-end, but they came now,” he said. </p>.<p>“Still, there’s no need for panic and we are making all arrangements,” he said. </p>.<p>Last month, the Karnataka Covid-19 War Room that Sudhakar manages had projected that the number of cases in the state was likely to touch 25,000 by mid-August.</p>.<p>But there are 28,877 positive cases now, whereas the number of active cases is 16,527 already. </p>.<p>In Bengaluru, three-fifths of the total Covid cases were reported in the past one week. </p>.<p>Earlier in the day, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa huddled with Sudhakar, Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan and others to take stock of the situation. </p>.<p>While expressing confidence that the government had the situation under control, Narayan asked citizens not to head out of Bengaluru for now. “Compared with Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai, the situation in Bengaluru is under control,” he said. </p>.<p>The Cabinet, which is scheduled to meet on Thursday, is likely to discuss the situation. The government might resort to stricter curbs, especially on the movement of people. One speculation is that the Sunday lockdown might be imposed on Saturdays as well given that government offices will be closed anyway. “There might be clamour for a lockdown,” one IAS officer conjectured. Speculation is also rife that the government might consider withdrawing permission for dine-in services at hotels and restaurants. </p>.<p>The Cabinet is also expected to discuss recruiting doctors to ramp up the state’s health infrastructure, sources said. </p>.<p class="CrossHead">100 more ambulances for Bengaluru</p>.<p>Yediyurappa has ordered adding an additional 100 ambulances for Bengaluru. “We had said 400, but the CM has said another 100 to be added,” Sudhakar said. </p>.<p>“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<br />said.</p>.<p>The minister also clarified that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients do not require an ambulance to be taken to a Covid Care Centre.</p>
<p>Karnataka on Wednesday reported 2,062 new Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day spike so far since the start of the pandemic. The state also reported a record 54 deaths, which raised the total toll to 474. </p>.<p>A 14-year-old from Bengaluru was among the 23 who succumbed to the disease in the state capital. The city saw 1,148 cases on Wednesday.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said that the Covid surge, especially in Bengaluru, came much earlier than what the government had projected or expected. </p>.<p>“In Bengaluru, we knew the cases would go up soon after the lockdown was relaxed. But such a big rise did not figure in the information we had with us. These numbers were for July-end, but they came now,” he said. </p>.<p>“Still, there’s no need for panic and we are making all arrangements,” he said. </p>.<p>Last month, the Karnataka Covid-19 War Room that Sudhakar manages had projected that the number of cases in the state was likely to touch 25,000 by mid-August.</p>.<p>But there are 28,877 positive cases now, whereas the number of active cases is 16,527 already. </p>.<p>In Bengaluru, three-fifths of the total Covid cases were reported in the past one week. </p>.<p>Earlier in the day, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa huddled with Sudhakar, Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan and others to take stock of the situation. </p>.<p>While expressing confidence that the government had the situation under control, Narayan asked citizens not to head out of Bengaluru for now. “Compared with Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai, the situation in Bengaluru is under control,” he said. </p>.<p>The Cabinet, which is scheduled to meet on Thursday, is likely to discuss the situation. The government might resort to stricter curbs, especially on the movement of people. One speculation is that the Sunday lockdown might be imposed on Saturdays as well given that government offices will be closed anyway. “There might be clamour for a lockdown,” one IAS officer conjectured. Speculation is also rife that the government might consider withdrawing permission for dine-in services at hotels and restaurants. </p>.<p>The Cabinet is also expected to discuss recruiting doctors to ramp up the state’s health infrastructure, sources said. </p>.<p class="CrossHead">100 more ambulances for Bengaluru</p>.<p>Yediyurappa has ordered adding an additional 100 ambulances for Bengaluru. “We had said 400, but the CM has said another 100 to be added,” Sudhakar said. </p>.<p>“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<br />said.</p>.<p>The minister also clarified that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients do not require an ambulance to be taken to a Covid Care Centre.</p>
