Karnataka records highest ever Covid-19 cases with 19,000 fresh ones

Picture used for representational purpose only

Bengaluru: On Sunday, Karnataka recorded 19, 067 fresh Covid-19 cases out of which Bengaluru accounted for 12,793 which has indicated the need for strengthening hospital infrastructure in the state. The government states that there is no shortage of beds and oxygen even though people are struggling for the same.

In just 18 days this month, Karnataka has witnessed 1.6 lakh cases, 68% or around 1.1 lakh are from Bengaluru alone. Experts are more concerned about the pace at which the cases are increasing rather than the number.

The state witnessed 29,580 cases between April 1 and 6. It added 48,285 cases in the next six days. The six days between 13 and 18 have witnessed 86,196 cases. For the same period, the city reported 20,198, 33,344 and 58,266 cases, respectively.

The state had added 36,732 cases including 23,388 in Bengaluru in the 18 days before April 1. Whereas, the first 13 days of March had witnessed 9,021 cases- the first six days of April saw thrice the number- 5,082 of which were in Bengaluru.

At the current rate, April is likely to add at least another lakh cases in the next 12 days.

Dr V Ravi, nodal officer for genome sequencing of SARS- CoV2 and member of technical advisory committee said, “This is not surprising at all. The number of daily cases in Bengaluru alone will be around 30,000 by May 15. While the transmission can only be curtailed by Covid-appropriate behaviour, we’ve been advising the government to prepare by dedication more beds, procuring enough oxygen and drugs. The rate at which the virus is growing, the health system will be overburdened if we do not act on time.” He also said that the state may touch the 30,000 mark by the end of April.

As of April 18, Karnataka has 1.3 lakh active cases, 97,897 of which are in Bengaluru. This is the first time that the cases have crossed the 1 lakh mark since the peak of the first wave.

Active cases exceeded 1 lakh for 25 days continuously between September 26 and October 21, 2020. But, even during that time, the most active cases were 1,20,270 on October 11. Likewise, during the first wave, Bengaluru’s active cases had never crossed the 70,000 mark. This time it is likely to surpass the 1 lakh mark in the next few days.

As of Sunday, the state witnessed more than 11.6 lakh cases and 10.1 lakh recoveries, whereas the same in Bengaluru was 5.4 lakh and 4.4 lakh respectively.