Bengaluru: Tumakuru and Dakshina Kannada districts listed on a national list of 15 districts reporting highest number of Covid cases for the past three weeks. Tumakuru recorded 38,300 cases over the period, while Dakshina Kannada reported 20,299, a significant increase week over week. With 1.2 lakh new Covid cases, Chennai is at the top of the list, followed by Malappuram (Kerala) with 73,556 new Covid cases.
“As the Covid cases in Bengaluru grew, many Tumakuru residents who had been living in the state capital returned home. The majority of beds in Tumakuru’s government and private hospitals are occupied. The surge began in April and is still going strong,” Tumakuru DHO Dr. MB Nagendrappa remarked.
He went on to say that people are willing to take part in testing. “We have concentrated more on contact tracking and verifying the primary contacts,” he added.
Tumakuru conducts around 6,000 tests per day. Since May 1, the district has averaged 2,000 daily cases. As of May 16, the district had 28,194 active cases and 689 deaths.
On average, approximately 1,000 cases are seen daily in Dakshina Kannada district, with a total caseload of 12506. Dr. Kishore Kumar M, district health officer of Dakshina Kannada, said, “We don’t have a bed problem since 85 percent of the cases are isolated at home. The issue pertains to ventilator beds. 180 of the 191 ICU beds are filled. Of the 206 ventilators in both private and government institutions, 204 are filled.”
On Monday, May 17, a video conference with deputy commissioners from all districts was held to discuss the Covid rise in both districts. According to a member of the expert committee, testing in these districts should be increased so that treatment can begin sooner and fatalities can be avoided.
