Interstate travellers continued to pile on Karnataka’s Covid-19 misery. The state saw a whopping 138 cases in the last 24 hours (ending 5 pm on Saturday) with Maharashtra returnees accounting for 111.
Chikkaballapur district saw its biggest single-day spike in cases with 47 infections on Friday. The patients include a one-year-old baby and a few others aged above 55 years, according to the health department officials.
In just two days the number of cases across the district went up to 75 - 61 from Gauribidanur, 9 from Chikkaballapur and 5 from Chintamani - due to mass influx of migrants from Mumbai. On May 19 alone, about 265 people from the district, most of them hailing from Gauribidanur and Bagepalli, had returned from Mumbai.
In fact, Medical Education Minister and Chikkaballapur MLA K Sudhakar saw it coming. On Thursday, he tweeted: “Around 250 people have arrived in the district in six buses from the virus-hit Maharashtra. The decision to send them home was unfortunate and taken in haste. The district will see a spike in cases from the interstate travellers. I am losing my sleep over it...” And his worst fears have come true.
Meanwhile, Tumakuru reported nine fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday. With this the total count of infections has gone up to 25. Six among nine cases have a travel history to Mumbai. All six were quarantined at Tumakuru and Turuvekere taluks after they returned from the virus-hit Maharashtra capital.
Of the remaining three, a 66-year-old man from Hebbur was admitted to Siddaganga Hospital with complaints of diabetes and breathlessness. He is now shifted to the designated Covid hospital in Tumakuru.
A 24-year-old pregnant woman from Sadashivnagar and a 55-year-old woman from Dobbspet also tested positive for virus. Efforts are underway to trace their travel history and source of infection.
Hassan and Mandya districts on Friday reported 14 and eight fresh cases respectively. All 22 cases have a travel history to Maharashtra. Hassan was in Green Zone till the best part of May. But in the last few days, the district witnessed a flurry of cases due to the interstate travellers, mostly from Maharashtra. Its case tally stands at 80 as on May 22. Mandya also saw an explosion of infections in the last one week, mostly from Maharashtra returnees. With 209 cases, Mandya is second in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state.
Kalyana Karnataka districts continued to feel the heat of Maharashtra and Telangana returnees. On Friday, Raichur district recorded 10 cases while Bidar saw nine test positive for Covid-19. The day also witnessed three from Haveri district contract virus.
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