Two COVID-19 deaths, 37 new cases in Karnataka-- 22 from Davangere alone

In a sudden spurt of COVID-19 cases in the green zone district of Davangere, 22 out of 37 new cases in Karnataka were reported from the region Monday, taking the tally to 651 in the state on a day when two deaths due to coronavirus infection were recorded and the government eased lockdown restrictions in non-containment zones.

As on Monday, the state has more recovered cases than active cases. With the two COVID-19 deaths, the death toll has gone up to 27.

Meanwhile, Department of Finance has issued an order to cover all anganwadi workers/helpers, police officers/staff, home guards, civil defense force, fire brigade staffs/officers, jail staff, municipal/sanitation workers , related vehicle drivers/loaders under the Pradhana Manthri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana.

This will make them eligible for Rs 30 lakh relief, if they are involved and died due to COVID-19 infection, the department said.

"When we segregate 37 new cases, 22 cases have comefrom Davangere alone. When we analyse the spurt in cases from the district, except one patient with history of influenza Like Illness (ILI), the remaining 21 cases are traced to two persons (patients)," Minister S Suresh Kumar, who is spokesperson for COVID-19 in Karnataka, told reporters.

Nineteen of these 22 cases from Davangere are contacts of a patient, who is a nurse, he said, adding that she has 25 primary contacts and 127 secondary contacts (mostly relatives).

A total of 1,147 samples have been tested in Davangere, out of which 847 are negative, 31 are positive, and results of 269 are awaited.

He said 61 people are in isolation in the district, while 124 people under institutional quarantine. Meanwhile to help people, including large number of labourers from Karnataka stranded within the state due to the COVID-19 lockdown, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa today said free bus services for them to reach their native places, will be extended for two days (till Thursday).

The Chief Minister had on Sunday said, free bus services will be available for three days till Tuesday, and the expenses will be borne by the government.

On the other hand life was limping back to normalcy in most parts of Karnataka with easing of COVID-19-induced restrictions on Monday as the state headed into the third phase of lockdown.

Among the two persons who died of coronavirus infection in the state on Monday, one of them --a 48-year-old woman from Davangere ---was the secondary contact of the nurse, who is source of spurt in number of cases in the district, Kumar said.

The deceased woman got admitted on May 1 and was diagnosed with SARI(severe acute respiratory illness), known case of hypertension, diabetes and hypothyroidism. She died at the designated hospital.

The other person who died is a 56-year-old man from Kalaburagi, a known case of SARI, and was admitted on April 29, with complaints of cough and fever.

According to a health department bulletin "As of 5:00 PM on May 4, cumulatively 651 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state and it includes 27 deaths and 321 discharges.

Out of 302 active cases, 296 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 6 are in ICU.

It said 28 patients who recovered were discharged today. The remaining 15 new cases other than those from Davangere include, seven from Bidar, two each from Mandya and Kalaburagi, and one each from Chikkaballapura, Haveri, Bengaluru Urban and Vijayapura.

Ten of them are contact of patients already tested positive, three of them are with travel history to Mumbai and one to Hyderabad, and the other's contact history is being traced.

From across the state most number of infections have been reported in Bengaluru urban with 150 cases, followed by Mysuru 88 and Belagavi 71. Out of total 321 patients discharged maximum 77 are from Mysuru, 75 from Bengaluru urban, twenty six from Belagavi.

A total of 79,193 samples were tested, out of which 4,295 were tested on Monday alone. So far 74,664 samples have reported negative, 3,666 alone on Monday.

The government has issued order to all private medical colleges in Karnataka and ESIC Medical Colleges functioning at Bengaluru and Kalaburgi districts to establish the RT-PCR Laboratories for the diagnosis of COVID-19.

In a bid to help people, including large number of labourers from Karnataka stranded within the state due to the COVID-19 lockdown, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday said free bus services for them to reach their native places, will be extended for two days (till Thursday).

The Chief Minister had on Sunday said, free bus services will be available for three days till Tuesday, and the expenses will be borne by the government.

On the other hand life was limping back to normalcy in most parts of Karnataka with easing of COVID-19-induced restrictions on Monday as the state headed into the third phase of lockdown.

With sale of liquor being allowed at the designated shops after a gap of over 40 days, long queues were found in front of them.