Karnataka to see 2 lakh Covid cases in next one month

BENGALURU: Karnataka will see over 2 lakh new Covid cases in the next month, according to an analysis by Project: Jeevan Raksha, an initiative of Proxima which focuses on advocacy, analytics and awareness in healthcare. As of April 11, Karnataka reported 10,65,290 cases and the projection estimates that by May 10, the cases will shoot up to 12,90,000, which is 2,24,710 new cases in the next 30 days. The mortality rate too could increase with over 700-plus deaths, it shows. As of April 11, Karnataka had 12,889 deaths, and it could shoot up to 13,600 by May 10. 

Mysore Sanjeev, convenor, Project: Jeevan Raksha, said, “We expect Covid cases to increase by 20 per cent by May 10, which will, unfortunately, contribute to an incremental 700-plus deaths. The cause for this is lack of political attention and focus, uncalled for and unilateral sharp reduction in testing in Bengaluru in February and cost of learning due to administration leadership change in the BBMP at this crucial juncture.”

Recently, in an analysis, it showed that Karnataka had a decline in tests per day, from an average of 95,000-100,000 between October and January to 62,000 in February, which led to the recent spurt. The analysis stated that there was a 40 per cent drop in average tests per day in February as compared to November 2020.

Sanjeev said, “Containment management is a labour intensive and physically draining exercise for the administration. On the other hand, vaccination is a logistics and supply chain management subject. The state needs two dedicated leadership teams supported by a large execution team at the taluk level. It should form a separate and independent task force for containment management and vaccination, led by an Additional Chief Secretary-level officer. Unless the state government understands the dynamics of pandemic management and changes its strategy, the result and pain will be the same.”