Bagalkot breaches 10k-Covid case mark

BAGALKOT: With over 800 Covid positive cases reported in the past week, Bagalkot breached the 10,000 case mark, and is the 17th district in the state to do so. The district reported 336 cases, the highest so far, on Thursday. According to the health bulletin on Friday, fresh cases dropped to 68. The district tally now stands at 10,641 cases – 1,107 active cases, 9,425 cured and 109 dead.

In the past five days, Bagalkot's positivity rate touched 1.1%, against the state’s rate of 1.5%, and the district has the third best fatality rate of 1%, compared to the state’s fatality rate of 1.5%. Among positive cases reported in the past week, 12% are symptomatic and 9.1% are asymptomatic, according official figures on September 30.

“Every day, over 60% of fresh cases are reported from rural areas and the rest from towns and cities in the district. Bagalkot has one of the best recovery rate of 90.7% in the state,” sources said.

Dr Ananth Desai, District Health Officer (DHO) told TNIE, “Cases are increasing because of increased testing. Over 2,000 samples are tested through RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Test each day to break the chain. A record 336 cases were reported on Thursday because of technical issues and failure to report cases on the same day. Cases are gradually decreasing and the district has of the best recovery rates.”

Cops collect mask fines 

The district police said they collected Rs 23.55 lakh as fine for violating mask-wearing  rules. “The drive will continue until people follow norms. The intention of penalising is not to collect fines but to educate them. Police have worked round-the-clock to ensure the safety of people who should be responsible and wear masks and maintain social distance,” SP Lokesh Jagalsar said.