It is not just in Bengaluru that the number of COVID-19 cases is exploding. Some other districts in the State, which had in the last few months seen a drastic drop in cases, are also seeing a steady and worrying increase in the more aggressive second wave. Most of them are districts that see a steady movement of people to and from Bengaluru.
On Saturday, according to the Health Department’s bulletin, Tumakuru had 1,559 new cases, the second highest in the State. Districts such as Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapura, Mandya, Mysuru, Ballari, Kalaburagi, Dakshina Kannada and Hassan also reported over 500 cases. Some districts — Kalaburagi, Ballari, and Tumakuru — have over 5,000 active cases.
Compare this with the scenario in February, before the second wave hit. On February 24, for instance, all districts were reporting new cases in single digits, while Bengaluru’s numbers were below 200. The number of active cases too for most districts were in double digits, barring five — Bengaluru Urban, Tumakuru, Mysuru, Kalaburagi and Dakshina Kannada.
A month later, a look at the figures for March 24 too was not panic-triggering. New cases continued to be in single digits for most places, though Bengaluru Urban, by then, had started reporting over 1000. Kalaburagi had over a 100 new cases and active cases in several districts too had shot up.
Experts and the medical fraternity have pointed out that unhindered movement between places and disregard for COVID-appropriate behaviour are the main reasons for the speed of the spread of infections.
Speaking to The Hindu , Tumakuru DHO Dr. Nagrendrappa said universally, similar reasons had led to the spike in cases. But for districts such as Tumakuru, frequent movement to and from highly affected Bengaluru added to it, he said.
Golden standards
“Movement has been curbed to an extend due to the weekend curfew. The transmission has to be broken and the golden standards of social distancing, sanitisation and masks have to be followed. The character of the virus has also changed. The district administration is doing the fullest to its capacity with testing, tracking and treatment,” he said. It is not just transmission that approachability to Bengaluru is adding to though. Officials in some districts, on condition of anonymity, said with hospital beds in Bengaluru become scarce, many are heading to nearby districts.
To tackle the mounting cases, Health Minister K. Sudhakar, on Saturday, told reporters, “In Bengaluru, we have already announced 2000 ICU beds and ventilators in makeshift hospitals on the premises of tertiary hospitals. In Mysuru, Hubballi, Bidar, Belagavi, and Shivamogga, modular ICUs with 200 to 250 bed capacity in makeshift hospitals will be set up. All of these have to be started within 15 days. We are aware that due to the demand everywhere, ventilators and other necessary equipments may have to be imported and all efforts are being taken for it.”
