13 new COVID-19 cases reported in Karnataka, death toll rises to 10

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, April 15, 2020:   The death of two elderly persons on Tuesday shot up the COVID-19 related fatalities to double digits in Karnataka, where 13 new positive cases were confirmed, taking the total number of infections in the state to 260, the health department said.

 

Expectedly, the state government welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement extending the COVID-19 lockdown till May 3 and said it would strictly implement the Centre’s guidelines which will be issued on Wednesday.

A total of ten coronavirus deaths have been reported so far in the state with two men, aged 76 and 69, becoming the latest fatalities to the disease in Bengaluru and Vijayapura respectively.

The city man, who was tested positive on April 12, had a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and died at a designated hospital in Bengaluru while the other, husband of a positive patient, at a hospital in Vijayapura.

Two patients, a 55-year-old man from Kalaburagi and a 65 -year-old man from Bengaluru urban, had passed away last night.

As of 5 pm on Tuesday, cumulatively 260 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state and it included ten deaths and 71 discharges, a health department bulletin said.

Out of 179 active cases, 175 patients (including one pregnant woman) are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while four are in ICU.

There are 13 new positive cases, including the two people who died in Bengaluru on Monday night and Vijayapura on Tuesday.

The eleven others are three each from Bagalkote and Kalaburagi, two each from Bengaluru Urban, one each from Chikkaballapura, Belagavi and Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district.

Among the 13, nine are contacts of patients already tested positive, two are with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), one with travel history to Delhi and the other is with a history of travel from Hindupur by a two- wheeler.

Contact tracing was in progress for all the cases, the department said.

Nine out of total 260 cases detected and confirmed in the state so far, are transit passengers of Kerala.

From across the state, most number of infections have been reported in Bengaluru with 69 cases, followed by Mysuru 48 and Belagavi 18.

Among those dead are three from Kalaburagi, two from Bengaluru Urban, and one each from Chikkaballapura, Bagalkote, Vijapura, Gadag and Tumakuru.

A total of 11,107 samples were collected for testing so far, out of which 1,090 were on Tuesday alone.

So far, 10,554 samples have reported as negative, and out of them 982 reported negative on Tuesday, the bulletin said.

Welcoming the lockdown extension, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa appealed to the people to voluntarily cooperate with the government to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The lockdown came into effect on March 25 and was to end on Tuesday midnight and Karnataka was among those states which sought extension.

State Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the lockdown would be tightened further by imposing more restrictions on unnecessary movement of people, erecting more barricades and intensified checks among others.

He said the Centre, in the days to come, would micro manage things aimed at controlling the spread of the virus by effectively implementing the lockdown.

He pointed out that Modi had said that after April 20, the situation at taluk and district level would be analysed, based on which a decision on easing curbs would be taken area wise.

Bommai said orders have been issued through the DGP to ensure that an ADGP rank official is sent to monitor and supervise measures in districts like Bidar, Gulbarga, Vijayapura, Belagavi, Chikkaballapura, Mysuru, Dakshina Kannada, where there are more coronavirus cases.

The Karnataka Labour department has directed private sector employers in the state not to lay off workers and pay them wages on the due date without any deduction during the lockdown.

Courtesy:The News Minute