Coronavirus: Karnataka records 1,780 infections in just 8 days

BENGALURU: Forty-four per cent of Karnataka’s 4,063 coronavirus cases occurred in a span of just eight days, between May 27 and June 3. These infections, 1,780, coincided with the return of thousands of people who had been living or working in other states, and led to several grim milestones in the form of highest single-day spikes.
The indications started to emerge in the second week of May. In fact, Karnataka crossed the 1,000-mark only on May 15 and in the next few weeks, it recorded over 3,000 cases.
Of the 1,780 cases seen between May 27 and June 3, 1,554 (87 per cent) tested positive after arriving in Karnataka from other states. The majority, 83 per cent, had travelled from Maharashtra.
On June 3, Karnataka reported 267 new Covid-19 patients. Of these, 232 had a Maharashtra travel link. The influx of returnees has reduced the number of days for cases to double in Karnataka. In the first week of May, it took 17 days for cases to double. This period is now 11 days.
The number of infections topped 1,000 only on May 15, which means that daily additions in absolute numbers were never as high as they are now.
“The priority now is to test those returning from other states as they continue to add to the cases here. This is particularly true about those coming from Maharashtra, which is still a red zone,” said Dr MK Sudharshan, chairman of the Karnataka Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, said.
Karnataka’s current daily testing capacity is about 12,000. As of the morning on June 3, the state had tested 2.7 lakh people. Of these, 1.4 lakh were people who had returned from other states, whereas 8,856 had international travel history.
About 1.4 per cent of the 2.7 lakh tested have been diagnosed with Covid-19. Of the 1.4 lakh domestic returnees who were tested, 1.7 per cent have been confirmed as being infected.
This sharp upward trend in the number of infections is likely to continue for a few more weeks as more people are expected to arrive in the state. On May 25, the number of applications for travel to Karnataka from Maharashtra stood at nearly 1.7 lakh. The current figure is 71,168, which is 30 per cent of the total 2.3 lakh applications submitted to Karnataka’s Seva Sindhu portal. A senior official said that at least 1 lakh people had returned from Maharashtra and over 2 lakh overall.
“While the process is completely handled through the Seva Sindhu portal, we have learned that there are duplications in applications, where the same people have applied for passes in two categories. Such applications are being weeded out,” said Gunjan Krishna, commissioner for industrial development, who is now the nodal officer for Maharashtra migrants.