Karnataka took just 8 days to go from 100-197 cases: minister

Karnataka is just three cases short of 200 Covid-19 patients and the state took just eight days to reach 197 from 100, Minister S Suresh Kumar said on Thursday.

"The first Covid-19 case was reported on March 8. Sixteen days later, the number was 50. Another eight days, it was 100. Four days later, the number grew to 150. After four days, it is 197. This is the arithmetic progression of cases we have seen in the state," Kumar said.

This is the second time when Karnataka has reported 16 cases on a single day (Thursday). Karnataka has so far discharged 30 patients and six are dead. A total of 161 people are isolated in various hospitals across the state for treatment.

Asked if Karnataka wasn't testing enough, Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said, "We have tested more than 7,000 samples, compared to Kerala which has reported more cases."

So far, only those secondary contacts with symptoms were tested. But henceforth, all secondary contacts of confirmed cases will be tested, Kumar said.

Those who wish to volunteer for Covid-19 duty can register on the government's dedicated website. The CM’s relief fund has so far received Rs 127.3 crore, the minister said.

As far as Tabhlighi Jamaat is concerned, out of 1,176 samples tested, 976 have turned out to be negative, 40 have tested positive and results in 160 cases are awaited.

So far, the department explicitly mentioned in its daily bulletin if a patient with travel history to Delhi is a Tabhlighi Jamaat attendee or not. But on Thursday, three patients listed as ones with travel history to Delhi weren't mentioned as Jamaat attendees.

Kumar later clarified that two people from Bengaluru - a 19-year-old girl and a 27-year-old man - and one 27-year-old man from Dharwad listed as those with travel history to Delhi are Jamaat attendees.