Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra said here on Wednesday that a majority of new COVID-19 cases being reported in the district are from the city and its surroundings.
Addressing presspersons, he said: “About 90% cases being reported in Dakshina Kannada are from Mangaluru and Bantwal areas. Of those cases, 90% of cases again are from Mangaluru City Corporation area.”
Asking people to cooperate to contain the spread of COVID-19, the Deputy Commissioner said that there is no shortage of vaccines in the district which received 20,000 doses of Covishield and 2,000 doses of Covaxin on Wednesday.
Free cremation
He said that in case of death of COVID-19 patients in the city, their cremation cost will be borne by the Mangaluru City Corporation. Cremation will be free in Boluru, Nandigudda and Surathkal. In addition, the district administration has identified five acres at Badaka Ekkar village for burial of bodies irrespective of the religion of the dead.
The district administration has identified ESI Hospital in the city, NITK buildings in Surathkal, hostels of Morarji Desai Schools and Mangaluru University for converting them as COVID care centres as and when the need arises.
Dr. Rajendra said that the district administration has ₹15 crore in its kitty for COVID-19 management activities. It has appointed 25 nodal officers to co-ordinate with hospitals and patients and their families to address issues relating to COVID-19 treatment.
He said that the district administration will come out with a system of announcing availability of hospital beds in the public domain after a week. At present, 3,500 beds are available in hospitals across the district.
Laboratories
The Deputy Commissioner said that the district has 10 laboratories conducting RT-PCR test for COVID-19. These laboratories give reports on positive cases within 36 hours. It will be ensured in the coming days that they also give negative reports within 36 hours. In all, 31 major hospitals in the district now provided treatment for COVID-19 patients.
The district is conducting 5,000 sample tests (RT-PCR) daily.
The COVID-19 positivity rate in the district now stood at 5.60% and the case fatality rate was at 1.92%, the Deputy Commissioner said.
Police Commissioner N. Shashi Kumar and others were present.