Karnataka reported 1,272 COVID-19 cases, the highest on a single day, and seven deaths, on Wednesday,
Among new cases, 735 were from Bengaluru. The contact or source patient for all 735 cases in Bengaluru was being traced. The city recorded a total of 4,649 positive cases.
Local transmission of COVID-19 continued to grow at a steady pace in Kerala with 19 more persons, including six personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force in Kannur district contracting the disease from the community.
The cluster among CISF personnel in Kannur grew over the past few days.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who briefed the media, said that the State had to prepare to face new challenges, as the number of COVID-19 patients seemed to be growing post lockdown.
However, the number of cases of local transmission and the State’s death rate had not shown a significant spike, he said.
Kerala reported 151 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, including one death, taking the State’s toll to 25.
However, in what should be seen as a big balancing act which goes a long way in reducing the strain on the health system infrastructure, 132 persons were also reported to have recovered and were discharged from hospitals on the same day. The number of active cases was 2,130.
The cumulative cases in the State since the outbreak began stood at 4,593, and the total recoveries at 2,436.
One more death, a 68-year-old security staff at Nadakkavu in Kozhikode district, who had taken his own life on June 27, turned out to be positive on Wednesday.
Of the new cases, 86 were persons who had come from abroad and 45 from other States. The number of persons on surveillance was 1,87,219, out of which, 2,831 with mild COVID-like symptoms were isolated in hospitals. The State has tested 6,564 samples in a day.
The number of hot spots in the State as on Wednesday was 124.
Andhra Pradesh witnessed six more deaths and 657 new COVID-19 cases. The number of new cases and deaths dropped slightly compared to the past three days after the highest spike of 813 fresh cases and 12 deaths on June 28. The tally rose to 15,252.
The number of discharges also increased as most of those admitted began recovering. In the past day, 477 patients recovered, the highest number in a day. As of Wednesday 6,988 patients had recovered, over 1,500 in the past four days. The recovery rate was ‘low’ at 45.8%. Active cases rose to 8,071.
Three new deaths each were reported in Krishna and Kurnool districts. With a total of 66 deaths Krishna district’s mortality rate was 4.34% and with 68 deaths Kurnool’s mortality rate was 3.33%. Anantapur continued to report huge number of cases with the latest spike of 118 local cases. It was followed by Kurnool (90), East Godavari (80), Guntur (77), Kadapa (60) and Krishna (52), Chittoor (35), Nellore (33), Prakasam (28), Visakhapatnam (21), West Godavari (15) and Vizianagaram (2). No new cases were reported in Srikakulam. Among imported cases, 39 were of people from other States and seven from other countries.
Following advice from experts, the Karnataka’s Health Department directed COVID hospitals to provide dietary food to patients. A menu of breakfast, snacks, lunch, evening snacks, dinner and a post-dinner beverage was issued. With Wednesday’s addition the total number of positive cases touched 16,514 and the death toll 253. Also, 292 patients were being monitored in the ICU.
While Bengaluru Urban and Bidar reported two deaths each, Dakshina Kannada, Belagavi and Hassan recorded one death each.
The State had been testing an average of 14,000 samples a day, and the number crossed 16,500 and touched 16,670 on Wednesday. Previously, 16,100 samples had been tested and 400 of the samples had tested positive then.
With 145 new discharges, total recoveries had touched 8,053.
Five more staffers from NIMHANS tested positive since Tuesday. Resident Medical Officer Shashidhara said a resident doctor, two staff nurses, a data entry operator and a housekeeping staff had tested positive. With this, a total of 15 staffers were positive at NIMHANS.
“On Wednesday casualty and emergency services have been temporarily shifted to adjacent Block. As one of the infected persons is from the Clinical Pathology Lab, investigations have been outsourced without taxing the patients. Patient services have not been hampered,” he said.
Kurnool district crossed the 2,000-mark as its tally of local cases reached 2,045. It is followed by Anantapur (1,689), Krishna (1,519), Guntur (1,426), East Godavari (1,209), Chittoor (1,089), West Godavari (1,010), Kadapa (1,000), Nellore (641), Visakhapatnam (563), Prakasam (398), Vizianagaram (161) and Srikakulam (63).
Meanwhile, the number of sample tested crossed nine lakh mark with 28, 239 tests conducted in the past day. So far, 9.18 lakh samples were conducted.
(With inputs from Vijayawada and Bengaluru bureaus)
