As the risk of spreading the COVID-19 is high in rural areas, Commissioner for the Directorate of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Kalaburagi in-charge Secretary Gunjan Krishna directed officials to take measures for the containment of virus in rural areas.
Ms. Krishna held a meeting with the senior officers of all departments concerned on Friday to review the situation related to COVID-19 and the preparedness to contain its spread in rural areas.
After collecting the data of cases in the district, Ms. Krishna said that increasing the number of cases in a rural area when compared to urban areas is a worrying sign, and measures should be taken to control the spread of the pandemic in rural pockets, she stressed.
The ASHAs who tested positive should be in-home isolation and the task force committee working in rural areas should take all precautionary measures.
Zilla panchayat Chief Executive officer Dileesh Sasi claimed that many people were reluctant to shift to the COVID Care Centres at taluk headquarters across the district. The district administration is also setting up centres at the hobli level. “At present, we have 13 centres and only 118 patients were admitted at these centres. As many as 714 beds were are vacant against the 832 total beds in these centres,” Mr. Sasi added.
Ms. Krishna said that the lockdown was imposed to help cut the chain of COVID-19 transmission amid the second wave. Strict measures should be taken by encouraging symptomatic patients to get admitted at COVID Care Centres, she said and directed officials to follow test, trace, and isolate to control the infection.
The quantity of vaccination doses being allotted is not adequate for the district. The district requires about 15,000 doses per day. Ms. Krishna said that the vaccine availability is expected to ease further when the Russian Sputnik V vaccine becomes available.
Mr. Sasi said that from March 2020 to February 2021 the district saw 4,46,621 tests with (22,007) 4.9% positive cases. And there was a drastic increase in positive per cent in the last couple of months, from March 2021 to till date district reported 2,60,346 tests with (36,068) 13.85 % positive cases.
Last week it was 30 per cent and this week declined to 20 %, he added.