Covid-19 tally in Dharwad inches closer to 10k-mark

Dharwad: In less than 60 days, the Covid-19 tally in Dharwad has risen thirtyfold, from a meagre 328 positive cases on June 30 to 9,670 as on August 25, and the figure is expected to cross the dreaded 10,000-mark by the end of the month should the district continue to report 200 fresh cases per day, as has been the case the entire month, over the last few days of August.
Notwithstanding the many precautions taken by the district administration, the Covid-19 graph has seen a rapid upward rise following the lifting of the lockdown and easing of restrictions. In July, the district recorded 3,923 fresh cases, while Dharwad has added a staggering 5,579 cases thus far in August. The twin-cities account for a bulk of the cases in the district, with Navalgund, Hubballi Rural, Kundgol, Kalghatagi and Alnavar trailing them.
The easing of the restrictions, in accordance with the central government’s overarching plan to revive the flagging economy, resulted in a massive influx of people, who returned home, owing to the fear of the pandemic and loss of livelihood in metropolises. Moreover, people from Haveri, Gadag, Koppal, Bagalkot, Vijayapura and Uttara Kannada receiving treatment in Dharwad too are included in the district’s tally.
The officials in the district administration said that the intensification in testing, particularly the use of the rapid antigen test (RAT) kits, had resulted in more people being confirmed infected, which had, in turn, resulted in pushing the Covid-19 tally up.
Spike in fatalities
On the one hand, the number of people succumbing to the novel coronavirus has seen a sharp spurt in the past two months in Dharwad, the number shooting up from eight (as on June 30) to 281 as on August 25 – 158 people have died in the month of August alone – but the district has also fared well as far as its recovery rate is concerned. Although the number of Covid-19 cases have been on an upward spiral in August, the number of patients who have been discharged this month – 5,242 – is quite close to that of positive cases. In all, 6,971 people have recovered from the pandemic in Dharwad, which is more than 72% of its overall tally.
‘Private hospitals exploiting us’
Meanwhile, there have been complaints from a section of patients being treated at private hospitals of being overcharged. A few patients have charged the district administration with inaction with respect to the exploitative practices of the private healthcare institutions.
Residents have also questioned the need to be subjected to both RAT and RT-PCR tests, with many alleging that this was a ploy by health department staff to meet their targets. Dharwad deputy commissioner Nitesh Patil said that he would instruct personnel against coercing people to take tests in order to achieve their target.