Karnataka: Record spurt of 700 cases gives rude awakening to authorities in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada

MANGALURU: After three quiet days on the Covid-19 front since Saturday, the coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka got a rude awakening to the vagaries of global pandemic with runaway spurt in fresh cases on Tuesday.
The districts combined to touch 700 cases with Udupi alone recording a single day high of 421 cases and DK the remaining 279. However, with 494 or 70.5% discharge of patients to fresh reported cases was a cause for cheer.
Primary contacts and people in whom the source of infection is being investigated made up for bulk of the 421 cases in Udupi with 150 and 158 cases, respectively. Deputy commissioner G Jagadeesha said 90 patients diagnosed positive had influenza like illness (ILI), 17 who tested positive had severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and six case were reported in domestic travellers. In all, 66% or 279 of the total fresh cases were asymptomatic.
Udupi taluk contributed to 203 of the new reported cases, Kundapur 158, Karkala 50 and 10 cases were reported from outside the district, DC said. With no Covid19 related deaths reported on the day and 321 people including 177 in institutional quarantine being discharged, taking total discharges to 5951 meant that the active cases in Udupi stood at 2637. The district has reported 8666 active cases against 57576 samples tested as on date.
A total of 114 new ILI cases added to the Covid19 graph in DK and source of infection in 82 people is being traced, Dr K V Rajendra, DC, said. Sixty-five cases were in primary contacts and 18 patients were diagnosed with SARI. Mangaluru taluk contributed to bulk of the cases at 163, Bantwal 49, Puttur 25, Belthangady 15 and Sullia 10 with 17 cases reported in people from outside the district, DC said, adding 173 people were discharged on the day.
However, the death of nine more people including three from Mangaluru taluk including two with comorbid conditions, one from Bantwal and five patients from outside DK meant that the Covid19 related fatalities continued unabated in DK district. The total fatalities reported as on date is 286. The various laboratories in DK as on date have tested 73764 samples out of which 9301 have returned positive, DC said adding the active cases now stands at 2188.