COVID-19: toll raises to 12 in K'taka; 19 new cases reported
Bengaluru, Apr 14 () The death of two elderly peopleon Wednesday took COVID-19 related fatalities to 12 inKarnataka, where 19 new positive cases have been confirmed,taking the total number of infections to 279, the healthdepartment said.
The government also said that 11 of the 170 districtsidentified as hotspots in the country are from Karnataka.
A total of 12 coronavirus deaths have been reported sofar in the state with the death of a 80-year-old woman inBelagavi and a 65-year-old man from Chikkaballapura inBengaluru hospital, the department said in a bulletin. The woman had a heart problem and was also suffering fromashtma and high BP and was the contact of a patient who hadtested positive, Primary and Secondary Education MinisterSuresh Kumar told reporters, briefing about the bulletin.
The man who died was referred from a private hospitalhere to a COVID-19 designated hospita on late evening April 13as he was H1N1 positive, had Chronic Obstructive PulmonaryDisease with obstructive sleep apnea and a past history ofuncontrolled diabetes mellitus and hypertension, he said.
As of 5.00 PM on April 15, Cumulatively 279 COVID-19positive cases have been confirmed in the state, whichincludes 12 deaths and 80 discharges, the bulletin said.
Of the 187 active cases, 184 (including a pregnant woman)are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, whilethree are in Intensive Care Units, it said.
The 80-year-old woman who died in Belagavi is among the19 newly reported cases, nine of whom are pharma companyworkers at Nanjanagudu in Mysore.
Five are contacts of patients who earlier testedpositive, two with a history of Severe Acute RespiratoryInfection, one with Influenza Like Illness and a policeman onduty at a madrasa in Mudhol, Bagalkote district .
Contact tracing has been initiated and is in progress forall the cases, the department said.
Nine out of total of 279 cases detected and confirmed inKarnataka so far are transit passengers of Kerala.
Bengaluru, with 71 people testing positive, topped thestate with the most number of cases, followed by Mysuru 58 andBelagavi 19.
Of 80 patients discharged so far, 35 are from Bengaluru,12 from Mysuru, eight each from Chikkaballapura, DakshinaKannada and Uttara Kannada; while among the dead are threefrom Kalaburagi, two each from from Bengaluru urban andChikkaballapura and one each from Belagavi, Bagalkote,Vijapura, Gadag and Tumakuru.
To a question on increasing number of cases linked topharma company in Nanjanagudu, Kumar said several foreignershad visited the firm in February from countries like USA,Germany, Japan, China, among others.
"On March 24, the first case from the company wasconfirmed...so far 780 samples have been tested related to thecompany, of which 46 have tested positive. we may get more."
A total of 12,483 samples were collected for testing sofar, of which 1,376 were collected on Wednesday alone.
So far 11,905 samples have reported as negative, and outof them 1,351 were reported negative on Tuesday.
The Minister said as on Wednesday India's positivity rateis 4.3 per cent, while it is 2.24 per cent in Karnataka.
To a question on hotspots in the state, Kumar said 11districts have been identified, going by the centralgovernment guidelines, based on which measures will be taken.
Stating that the union cabinet secretary has informedChief Secretaries of states on hotspots and containment zonesduring the videoconferencing, Karnataka Health CommissionerPankaj Kumar Pandey said as per central government guidelinesthe state government would now go to ground level to demarcateboundaries, because it has been left to states concerned.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa set upfour Groups of Ministers to implement extended COVID-19lockdown and ensure smooth supply of essentials.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner, Department of Health &Family Welfare Services issued a Health Advisory on follow upof COVID-19 patients and primary contacts after discharge fromhospital / release from quarantine respectively .
The HFWS Director issued a circular to all districts toconsider all Influenza Like Illness and Severe AcuteRespiratory Infection cases to be screened for COVID-19.
Aimed at reducing fatalities, the department has alsoconstituted Critical Care Support team at the state level toadvise and guide physicians on cases admitted in ICU withventilator support, those admitted in ICUs with or withoutoxygen supply, cases with comorbidity, cases above the age of60 years, and pregnant cases.
At the district level- district level medical expertcommittee has been constituted with experts from anesthesia,pulmonary medicine, cardiology, and general medicine from bothpublic and private sector, to advise and guide in themanagement of COVID-19 cases on regular basis. KSU APRRAVINDRANATH APRRAVINDRANATH