Karnataka Covid news live: Next six weeks crucial for state, says TAC chief

Amid heightened concerns regarding vectorborne infections in the wake of Zika outbreak in neighbouring Kerala, Karnataka has reported 1,310 dengue infections till July 13 this year. Udupi has recorded the highest number of dengue infections in the state (213), followed by Bengaluru city (195), Belagavi (145), Dakshina Kannada (127) and Ballari (69). The state has also seen 457 chikungunya cases till date. Shivamogga is the worst affected district with 81 cases, followed by Kolar (77).

It’s been almost two months since the government announced a relief package for workers in the unorganised sector but the majority of beneficiaries are yet to receive the cash. All thanks to the slow process of collection and verification of documents. Chief minister BS Yediyurappa had, on May 19, announced cash assistance of Rs 3,000 for autorickshaw/ cab drivers and construction workers registered with the Karnataka State Construction Workers Welfare Board and Rs 2,000 for barbers, porters, tailors, ragpickers, potters, mechanics and roadside vendors registered under the Atma Nirbhar Fund.

A ‘warm’ vaccine formulation developed by scientists at IISc in conjunction with biotech firm Mynvax is effective against all current SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, an independent evaluation of the formulation conducted by CSIRO, Australia has shown. CSIRO, which conducted animal tests for the Oxford-Covishield vaccine candidate last year, found that the ‘warm’ vaccine helps produce antibodies that neutralise all current variants of the novel coronavirus. The findings were published on Thursday in the peer-reviewed ACS Infectious Diseases journal. This will pave the way for clinical development of the vaccine, leading to human trials. The study was led by Prof Raghavan Varadarajan of IISc. TOI first reported about the vaccine in November 2020.

With cases in villages along the border with Maharashtra and Goa continuing to remain high, police in Belagavi district are sending back travellers, who are either not vaccinated or not carrying Covid-19 negative certificates, from the two neighbouring states. There are 14 checkposts along the border. In the past week, over 500 cases have been reported in border taluks, particularly in Chikkodi, and this has worried the district administration. District police have intensified checks and are monitoring people arriving at checkposts 24/7. Health workers are also conducting rapid antigen tests (RAT) on commuters.

A note, said to be minutes of a recent National Health Mission meeting, suggests Covaxin should be administered to pregnant women categorized as ‘high-risk’ and Covishield to those in low- risk pregnancies. The note, widely shared on social media, is only adding to confusion on the ground besides deepening vaccine hesitancy, gynaecologists say. Counselling pregnant women and vaccinating them regardless of the trimester are among the 20 points in the note. It says pregnant women with gestational diabetes, anaemia and pre-eclampsia (a condition in pregnancy characterised by high blood pressure) should be given Covaxin. Incidentally, experts including Dr MK Sudarshan, chairperson, state’s Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee, have said women in the first trimester should avoid the vaccine completely.

With the number of fresh Covid-19 cases decreasing, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to reduce the number of government quota beds to treat Covid patients to about 1,800. Gaurav Gupta, BBMP chief commissioner, told reporters: “Every day over the past few weeks, less than 30 positive patients are being referred to hospitals for admission by BBMP doctors. Since the overall number of cases too have come down, we are going to reduce government quota beds. As we speak, we will reserve 1,800 beds. We will modify this number as and when required.”

Although the number of fresh Covid-19 cases has declined due to lockdown measures, the second wave is not over yet, Dr MK Sudarshan, chairperson, Karnataka’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has said. He also said the next six weeks are crucial to bring down the daily positivity rate. “The second wave is yet to subside; it is not over as yet,” Dr Sudarshan said. “If people continue to resort to Covid-inappropriate behaviour, crowd tourist places and gather in large numbers for festivals and other events, the second wave may not end anytime soon.”