The number of Covid-19 vaccination centres in Karnataka will be increased to 3,000 from Monday, state health minister K Sudhakar said on Saturday.
"From 8 March, Covid-19 vaccination will be provided at about 3,000 centres including Primary Health Centers (PHCs), Taluk Hospitals and District Hospitals and the target is to vaccinate 1.5 lakh people each day across the state," Sudhakar said during a review meeting.
The state health minister also informed that the daily Covid-19 case count in Bengaluru has jumped to 400, after recording about 200-250 new infections for several weeks.
"Twelve clusters have been identified in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits," he said.
"Contact tracing will also be made more robust and the centre has directed to trace 20 primary and secondary contacts for each positive case. All these 20 contacts will be subjected to the Covid-19 test," the minister said.
According to Sudhakar, neighbouring states of Kerala and Maharashtra have a role to play in the rising numbers of cases in Karnataka.
"Along with strict measures at borders restrictions on large gatherings will also be tightened," he said.
"Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will hold a video conference with the district administrations of districts where positivity rate is high. Since there are more inter-state travellers to Mangalore, testing will be ramped up there. Instructions have been issued to Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Chamaajanagara, Udupi, Kodagu, Belagavi and Tumkuru to be more vigilant," he added.
Cases in Karnataka
Karnataka reported 580 new cases of Covid-19 and 5 more fatalities on Saturday, taking the total number of infections to 9,54,393 and the death toll to 12,359.
The day also saw 355 patients getting discharged after recovery, pushing the cumulative discharge total to 9,35,421. Out of the fresh cases, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 367 cases, a health department bulletin said.
It said, out of 6,594 active cases, 6,485 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and stable, while 109 are in ICU.
Among the deaths reported on Saturday, three are from Bengaluru Urban and one each from Hassan and Tumakuru.
Bengaluru Urban accounted for 367 new cases today, Dakshina Kannada 27, Bidar 20, Kalaburagi 18, Uttara Kannada 16, followed by others.
Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 4,07,636, followed by Mysuru 54,191 and Ballari 39,311.
Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban tops the list with 3,98,365, followed by Mysuru 53,004 and Ballari 38,635.
A total of over 1,92,29,142 samples have been tested so far, out of which 82,229 were tested on Saturday alone, and 4,476 among them were rapid antigen tests.
With inputs from agencies.
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