Recoveries surge to 96 per cent from 93 per cent in October; Bengaluru Urban lags

BENGALURU: Even as Karnataka’s caseload nears the 9-lakh mark, recoveries continue to outpace fresh cases, with the number of patients under treatment accounting for less than 3% as on Saturday (November 21).
At 96%, the state’s recovery rate is better than the country’s average, and is expected to help handle a second wave, which is anticipated in early 2021, better than the first surge.

As of Saturday, only Bengaluru Urban district’s recovery rate (94%) was lower than the state average.Of the 24,714 patients still being treated, 17,812 were in Bengaluru Urban, which has reported 3.6 lakh of the 8.6 lakh total positive cases in Karnataka.
Comparatively, the recovery rate was at 93% as on October 31, from where it improved to 94.8% by the first week of November.
In the first three weeks of November, the state added only 47,930 new cases compared to 1.8 lakh cases during the same weeks in October, which ended with 2.2 lakh cases. Cases in October had dipped marginally compared to nearly 2.6 lakh the state added in September.
Naturally, November also saw a lower number of discharges — 77,760 patients have been discharged in the first three weeks, compared to nearly 1.9 lakh during the same weeks in October. Total discharges topped 2.7 lakh in October, which was an improvement from 2.3 lakh in September.
“The consistent fall in new cases has reduced the active cases burden significantly. If we manage the pandemic like this for another six to eight weeks, then we will be in a good position to handle the second wave, if there is one,” an official said.
At 1.4%, the state’s case fatality rate has increased marginally, but is still under control and better than the national average. Multiple experts and government officials have, as reported by TOI earlier, have been reiterating that the government’s focus has been to bring down the CFR to below 1%.
--------