COVID-19: Davangere reports 12 infections as state tally swells to 673

Karnataka on Tuesday witnessed 22 new infections and two deaths. The number of confirmed cases in the state has gone up to 673 while the Covid-19 fatalities rose to 29.

On the bright side, recovered cases outnumbered the active cases for the third consecutive day. On Tuesday, the number of discharged post-recovery were 331 while active cases stood at 312.

Two women - one each from Vijayapura and Davanagere - lost their battle against the virus on Tuesday.

A 62-year-old woman (Patient-640) died of cardiac arrest at the designated Covid-19 hospital in Vijayapura. She had bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and was admitted to the hospital with a complaint of breathlessness. With this the Covid-19 fatalities in Vijayapura district reached 3.

Davangere, which is witnessing a surge in cases in the last few days, on Tuesday saw its third Covid-19 death. A 50-year-old woman (Patient-662), with a severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) complaint, died at the district hospital.

The cotton hub of Karnataka continued to see a surge in infections. On Tuesday, as many as 12 people - a 5-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl, fine men and as many women - all contacts of Patients 556 and 581, contracted virus.

The day also saw Bengaluru record three more Covid-19 cases. Patient-653 is a primary contact of Patient-420 while Patient-654 is a influenza-like illness (ILI) case. Contact tracing for Patient-652 is underway.

Bagalkot reported two more cases on Tuesday, taking its total count to 35. Both the cases are primary contacts of Patients 367 and 368.

Haveri district saw its second case. Patient-672, a native of Savanur with a travel history to Mumbai, is a primary contact of Patient-639.

Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Ballari and Dharwad district also reported one case each on Tuesday.

Minister S Suresh Kumar, also Karnataka’s in-charge of Covid-19 media briefings, said, as many as 4,163 samples were tested on Tuesday. So far, the state had tested 83,806 swab samples.

“In March, the state was in third place in terms of number of Covid-19 cases. Now, it is in 13th place in the country. In the past five days, the national average daily growth rate has been 5.97% whereas for Karnataka, it has been 3.13%,” Kumar said.

“Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa met Credai representatives to help migrant labourers at the construction sites. He also met representatives of weavers’ community. After the farmers’ community, the second-biggest community in the state is that of weavers. Discussions are underway on how to help them,” Kumar said.

Labourers have to be transported from camps to construction sites in BMTC buses by their employers. An order to this effect will be released by the state police chief in a day or two, Kumar said.