K’TAKA MAY HAVE 25,000 PATIENTS BY AUGUST 15

Karnataka could have over 25,000 active Covid-19 cases by August 15, according to projections made by the Karnataka State Covid-19 War Room. The projections are based after analysing current data and trends of the spread of the virus.

Bengaluru is likely to be worst hit according to the projections. On Tuesday, the state capital added 107 of the 322 new positive cases taking the total of active cases to 996 and overall total to 1505. The state also reported eight Covid deaths, taking the toll to 150.

IAS officer and war room in-charge Munish Moudgil, however, admitted to ToI that “It is extremely difficult to make accurate projections, particularly beyond 15-20 days. If the daily growth rate is 3% then the active cases will reach 17,000 but if it is 4% then the active numbers will reach 25,000 in 50-60 days.”

Currently, the state’s average daily growth rate (calculated over the past five days) is nearly 4%.

The number of deaths too has registered a sharp rise, touching 150. The sudden surge in Covid cases has been mostly triggered by returnees from other states, especially Maharashtra. A total of 5,639 of the state's 9,150 Covid-19 cases recorded till Sunday had domestic travel history.

Meanwhile, the state's efforts to combat the virus received a setback when Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar's 82-year-old father and a domestic help tested positive for Covid19. This has rung the alarm bells as several ministers, including CM BS Yediyurappa, may come under the scanner since they have held many meetings with Dr Sudhakar, who is tasked with Covid-19 matters.

This is the second time Sudhakar will be out of action from his duties.

In another development, a Bengaluru cop who tested positive for Covid-19 reportedly committed suicide on Tuesday. The 49-year-old deceased was a head constable with the 4th battalion of KSRP.

Shut down B’luru for 20 days: HDK Instead of sealing a few areas, the entire state capital should be shut down for 20 days in view of the rising COVID-19 cases, former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Tuesday.

In a series of tweets, the JD(S) leader said sealing some areas would not serve any purpose and that weaker sections of the society should be taken care of immediately. “Stop playing with human lives. It will not serve any purpose to seal a few areas. If you care for the human lives in Bengaluru, shut down the city totally for 20 days. Else, Bengaluru will become another Brazil. People's lives are more important than the economy,” Kumaraswamy tweeted.