Covid spike: Tumakuru and Dakshina Kannada on Centre's radar

BENGALURU: Tumakuru and Dakshina Kannada - and not Bengaluru - are on the Centre's radar, figuring in the national list of 15 districts which are reporting a high number of cases for three weeks (April 22 to May 12).
During the period, Tumakuru has reported 38,300 cases and Dakshina Kannada 20,299 with a big rise week on week. Chennai tops the list with 1.2 lakh cases, followed by Malappuram (Kerala) with 73,556 fresh Covid cases.
Tumakuru, 70km from Bengaluru, is bearing the brunt of a surge in the IT city, according to officials involved in Covid management in the district. "As the surge began in Bengaluru, many from Tumakuru who were living in the state capital returned home. Most of the beds are occupied in both government and private hospitals in Tumakuru. The spurt began in April, and it is continuing," said Dr MB Nagendrappa, DHO, Tumakuru.
DK, Tumakuru have better infra: Docs
People are cooperating with testing. We’ve focused more on contact tracing and testing the primary contacts,” said DHO Dr MB Nagendrappa.
In Tumakuru, over 6,000 tests are conducted in a day. From May 1, the district has seen 2,000 daily cases on average. The district has 28,194 active cases as of May 16 and 689 cumulative deaths.
In Dakshina Kannada district, nearly 1,000 daily cases are seen on average and the district has an active caseload of 12,506. “We don’t have any bed crisis, with 85% cases in home isolation and being monitored. The problem is for ventilator beds. Of 191 ICU beds, 180 are occupied. Of 206 ventilators in both private and government hospitals, 204 are filled,” said Dr Kishore Kumar M, district health officer of Dakshina Kannada.
Cases in Dakshina Kannada jumped in March with nursing college students returning from Kerala testing positive for Covid and clusters of cases were seen. Of Dakshina Kannada’s 1,659 oxygenated beds, only 446 were in use as on Monday.
“About 5% of the total cases require high-flow nasal oxygen cannula bed and ICU admission. We are able to manage the bed requirement,” Dr Kumar told TOI.
Health officers told TOI that Dakshina Kannada and Tumakuru are districts with better health infrastructure as private medical colleges and hospitals are well-established. “If we see a similar surge in some north Karnataka districts like Yadgir, it will be tough to manage,” said an officer.
The Covid surge in both districts was discussed in a video conference with deputy commissioners of all districts on Monday. An expert committee member said testing in these districts should be ramped up so that treatment can start early, preventing fatalities.