Recovery rate falling, active cases rising: After lull, Covid situation worsens in Karnataka

BENGALURU: While all eyes are on the vaccines that are set to arrive in Karnataka, the Covid-19 situation in the state has been gradually getting worse over the past three days with the recovery rate falling and active cases rising.

The turnaround for the worse is coming after a prolonged stretch in which the state had been steadily improving the Covid-19 situation.

According to the data provided by the Health Department, the recovery rate in the state slid to 97.64 per cent on Sunday after touching a high of 97.70 per cent on Thursday.

However, the situation was much better than on July 20, 2020, when Karnataka recorded its lowest recovery rate of just 35.29 per cent around the time when the pandemic was getting at its worst in the state. 

Another indicator of the slightly worsening situation is that the number of active cases across the state has been steadily increasing over the past three days, from 9,429 cases on January 8 to 9,649 cases on Sunday, which indicates that there are more patients currently under treatment than four days ago.

However, the state’s positivity rate has been consistently dropping from its highest of 12.54 per cent on September 27, 2020, to less than half that at 6.06 per cent as on Sunday. 

Similarly, the state’s mortality rate too has dropped to just 1.30 per cent as on Sunday, even as the total number of patients recorded so far since March 8, 2020, stood at 9,27,559 cases, which includes deaths, the discharged and the active cases.

Only two deaths were reported across the state on Sunday, which on record is the second best on the mortality front after December 24 when only one death was reported.