50% COVID-19 cases in Karnataka have travel history to Maharashtra
Of the total 2781 COVID-19 cases in Karnataka as of May 29, nearly 50 percent of the cases are people with travel history to neighbouring Maharashtra.
Even as the state is trying to impose travel restrictions on people travelling by road and air, the cases are still on the rise.
With 248 new COVID-19 positive cases on Friday, Karnataka witnessed its biggest single-day spike in coronavirus cases since the start.
As of May 29, 1348 of the 2781 (49%) were patients with travel history to Maharashtra and 815 came through primary and secondary contacts. Over 50 cases were reported with people from Gujarat (58), New Delhi (59) and Tamil Nadu (55).
Karnataka which witnessed a rise in cases in the past 15 days at a fast pace. It took a little over two months for the state to hit 1000 cases (March 9 to May 15) but the next 1781 cases happened in just two weeks.
Districts like Bengaluru, Mysuru and Belagavi reported a higher number of cases in the initial days with people with an international travel history and their primary and secondary contacts getting tested positive for COVID-19.
But now other districts in the North (bordering Maharashtra) and some districts in the central regions emerged as hotspots with the opening of domestic travel.
Mandya (224), Yadgir (207), Kalaburgi (159), Udupi (158) had more active cases than Bengaluru. Next in line were Raichur (132), Chikkaballapur (114) and Hassan (114).
To fast track the COVID-19 testing process for the “exempted category” of passengers reaching Karnataka, the government gave permission to private labs to set up swab-collection kiosks at airports, railway stations, and hotels.
The state fixed a rate of ₹650 for these testing.
The Karnataka government exempted central and state government ministers and officers on duty from quarantining on arrival.
Besides, it also exempted people who get a negative COVID test certificate (from ICMR approved lab), not more than two days old from the date of the journey, from institution quarantine norms. Such persons will however be asked to be under 14 days home quarantine.
Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs J.C. Madhuswamy earlier this week said the Karnataka imposed restrictions on people coming by road from the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat to ensure adequate quarantine facilities.
The minister also clarified that the state has appealed to the union civil aviation ministry to reduce the number of incoming flights into the state – from states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
With Lockdown 5, easing much of the restrictions, the state also decided to open up religious places (temples, churches and mosques) from June 1 and it also mulls on the opening of dine-in services and hotels.
Earlier, the government issued health bulletin twice a day will now issue only once a day starting June 1 with rising cases in the state.
“Due to an increase in the number of cases in the last few days, as being done in other states of the country, it is decided by the Task Force that mid-day media release will be cancelled,” the Health Department in the state tweeted.
