WILL RECOVER SOON: BSY
Karnataka on Monday reported 4,752 new cases of Covid-19 that included Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. He was admitted on Sunday night to the Manipal hospital in Bengaluru after testing positive for coronavirus.
He became the second chief minister in India to test Covid positive after Shivraj Singh Chauhan of Madhya Pradesh.
In a video released from the hospital, the Chief Minister said: “I have been in constant touch with all our officials to ensure that the government’s administration does not suffer in any way. This morning too, I had a conversation with all our senior officers. Doctors who examined me have assured me that there is nothing to worry about and I will recover very soon.”
But the CM has something to worry about. As the Covid19 cases are surging, the source of infection for one in every two patients who have tested positive remains a mystery. This has forced authorities to shift strategy to increasing isolation.
As of Saturday night, the govt was unable to pinpoint the source of the virus in 65,099 of the 1.3 lakh cases in the state, while the remaining contracted the infection either through a contact or had a history of domestic or international travel.
Medical experts have suggested that the government should not waste resources in trying to find the source anymore, but focus on enhancing testing capacity.
The inability to pinpoint the source of infection indi
cates the patients were infected somewhere in the community. In the long run it would work as a stimulus for herd immunity given the low fatality rate, experts say.
Monday saw 98 Covid-related deaths, taking the total to 2,594. Overall the state has 1,39,571 Covid cases. Bengaluru reported 1,497 new cases and 27 Covid-related deaths, taking the total to 60,998 and 1,104 respectively.