JOIN USKarnataka: Spike in COVID-19 cases triggers high alert
Casting a dark spell on the state’s fight to contain the spread of COVID-19, two small towns — Gauribidanur in Chikkaballapur district and Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district have caught the attention of experts.
With nine COVID-19 positive patients in Gauribidanur and six at Bhatkal, both the towns have left the officials on their toes prompting to declare a medical emergency and geographical lockdown in the region. Even though Kalaburagi had initially been suspected to report the highest number of cases in Karnataka, both Gauribidanur and Bhatkal have now become the epicentre of Covid-19 in Karnataka.
Following the confirmation of five more COVID-19 cases on Friday morning, Chikkaballapur Deputy Commissioner R Latha held a high-level meeting with officials and health department officials to contain the further spread of the virus.
“After the confirmation of the first four cases, about 25 primary contacts were identified and samples were sent for testing. Among them, five cases have tested positive on Friday,” an official explained. Shockingly, the patient 19, along with others in Gauribidanur, is said to have infected all those who have been tested positive in the town.
Swinging into action, the district administration on Friday shifted seven persons out of the 22 home quarantined people to an isolation set-up at the Chikkaballapur district hospital and put them under special observation.
Realising the gravity of the situation, the State government also appointed a special officer to oversee the implementation of lockdown orders. The surveillance around the town has been intensified and no one is allowed to enter the town or allowed to go out of the town.
Similarly, Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada has also presented a similar picture. All the six in the town who tested positive for the coronavirus, have also been from the same cluster that had visited Dubai, according to officials. Following the sudden confirmation of back-to-back cases from one town who are now being treated at the INHS Patanjali in the Sea-Bird naval base, the district administration declared a medical emergency in Bhatkal and took up massive surveillance activity.