As many as three persons, of the seven who tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday in the State, did not have any symptoms of the disease.
The Department of Health and Family Welfare bulletin stated that of the three patients, two had a travel history to Dubai and one went to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi.
Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said: “These people who do not have symptoms probably have good immunity. We tested them because of their travel history. We are glad that these people were tested and are under isolation. This will avoid the infection from spreading,” he said.
Meanwhile, out of the seven positive cases, five — which includes three women — had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event.
Four persons are in isolation at the district hospital in Belagavi and another patient is quarantined at a hospital in Ballari.
In addition, a couple — both senior citizens who returned from Dubai on March 22 — tested positive. They are being quarantined at the Akash Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Institute in Bengaluru.
37% from Bengaluru
The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in Karnataka now stands at 151. This includes four deaths. As many as 12 patients have been discharged.
According to statistics issued by the department, 37% of the positive cases are from Bengaluru, which has the most patients with 57.
This is followed by Mysuru with 28. A large number of them were in contact with a pharmaceutical company employee in Nanjangud who had tested positive.
Dakshina Kannada is third with 12 positive cases.
A total of 1,469 primary contacts and 5,165 secondary contacts of positive patients are under observation.
The department has decided to follow the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) advisory and start rapid antibody-based blood test as a strategy for areas reporting clusters, and in large migration or gathering centres
Volunteers to be trained
The Department of Health and Family Welfare has started enlisting volunteers who will be trained and placed in healthcare institutions in the coming days if the situation demands.
The department met on Sunday and the team mapped a detailed set of activities to ensure the continuum of care for patients — from reception at the healthcare facilities, to different stages of testing and referral to tertiary facilities.
The department is in the process of identifying various roles that can be entrusted to the volunteers with minimum training or intense specialised trainings. This will bring about clarity in their roles without any overlap in a real-world hospital scenario. “The protocols, once finalised, will be forwarded to the districts, allowing the heads of the institutions the flexibility to allot human resources according to their requirements and case load,” Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said, adding that the department was preparing for any eventuality.
Elaborating further, he said, “We have visualised hospital conditions under different stages of a pandemic and have broken down essential activities, including non-clinical activities, such as crowd management, food management, mobility and data entry into different buckets. This allows us to assign specific roles to medical and non-medical staff for better efficiency. The government is also planning to enlist volunteers to support facility functions in the event of a large number of cases, and develop training modules to enable them to carry out these functions. The protocols also make provisions for tying up with community management teams to handle follow-ups.”
