HASSAN: The Hassan district administration is anxious over the rise in the number of Covid cases in the district from Monday. Hassan district tops the state in Covid positivity rate with 39.93 percent. The district also stood third in the number of Covid cases on Monday. According to statistics available with The New Indian Express, 1527 positive cases and two deaths due to Covid have been reported on Tuesday.
Sources said that 415 students including 271 girls and 132 teachers have tested positive in the district. The health department has intensified Covid tests and more than 5,000 tests have been conducted in the last couple of days following the directions of the deputy commissioner.
Deputy commissioner R Girish has directed the health department to provide Covid kits at the doorsteps of those in home isolation. Judges and staff of district court, doctors and nursing staff of Hassan institute of medical sciences, officials under different capacities in Zillapanchayat, police constables and head constables of police departments also have tested positive.
Schools to be shut
The minister in charge of the district Gopalaiah who chaired the Covid 19 review meeting in Hassan on Tuesday has declared that schools and colleges in Alur and Hassan taluks will be shut. The decision was taken following the increase in the Covid positivity rate among schoolchildren in the district. The deputy commissioner is likely to declare the closure of all schools and colleges in the district on Wednesday as the minister has directed him to take a decision after reviewing the situation in the district.
Girish said that the district administration is all set to tackle the situation and has enough oxygenated beds, oxygen generators and Covid care centres. The mortality rate is very low though the cases are high, he added.
According to Dr Satish, the district health and family welfare officer, Covid tests are being conducted for people coming to the hospital with cough, fever and cold. Over 30 percent of the patients are testing positive every day. However, the department has strictly monitored the patients who are in home isolation. The third wave is likely to be controlled by the end of January as per health experts, he added.
41,457 cases in Karnataka; 25,595 from Bengaluru alone
Active cases in Karnataka crossed 2.5 lakh on Tuesday as the State registered yet another spike logging 41,457 new cases of COVID-19, and 20 fatalities, taking the tally to 32,88,700 and the death toll to 38,465.
The state, which has been witnessing a steady surge in cases since the last week of December, had recorded 27,156 fresh infections on Monday, while it was 34,047 on Sunday.
Of the new cases today, 25,595 were from Bengaluru Urban that saw 4,514 people being discharged and 7 deaths.
The total number of active cases across the state is now 2,50,381.
There were 8,353 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries to 29,99,825, a health department bulletin said.
While the positivity rate for the day stood at 22.30 per cent, the case fatality rate (CFR) was 0.04 per cent.
Of the 20 deaths, 7 are from Bengaluru Urban, Mysuru (3), Tumakuru (2), and one each from Bengaluru Rural, Chamarajnagara, Chitradurga, Davangere, Dharwad, Hassan, Ramanagara and Uttara Kannada.
Apart from Bengaluru Urban, Mysuru recorded the second highest of 1,848 new cases, Hassan 1,739, Tumakuru 1,731,Bengaluru Rural 1,116, and Dakshina Kannada 1,058.
Bengaluru Urban district now has a total of 14,58,349 positive cases, followed by Mysuru 1,90,462 and Tumakuru 1,29,765.
According to the bulletin, Bengaluru Urban tops the list among discharges with 12,63,555, followed by Mysuru 1,79,623 and Tumakuru 1,20,659.
Cumulatively, a total of 5,93,91,381 samples have been tested, of which 1,85,872 were on Tuesday alone.
(With PTI Inputs)