Panel suggests 21-day lockdown for Bengaluru

Panel suggests 21-day lockdown for Bengaluru

Karnataka records 2,627 cases and 71 deaths; 1,933 test positive in A.P., 1,269 in Telangana; local transmission tops in Kerala

With Bengaluru reporting 1,525 out of 2,627 cases and 45 of 71 deaths in Karnataka on Sunday, members of the State’s COVID­19 expert and technical advisory commit

tees recommended a minimum three­week lockdown.  Andhra Pradesh witnessed 19 new deaths and 1,933 new cases, taking the toll to 328 and the tally to 29,168.  With the discharge of over 1,019 patients in 24 hours, 15,412 patients had recovered, and active cases stood at 13,428. Of the total cases, 26,336 patients were locals while 2,403 were people from other States and 429 foreign returnees. The number of cases in Telangana touched 34,671 as 1,269 samples tested positive on Sunday. On the same day, eight more patients died, taking the toll to 356.  The State Health department said there were 11,883 active cases, 22,482 were discharged and 356 died till July 12. However, adding the numbers totalled 34,721 while total cases were mentioned as 34,671.  The 1,269 new cases included 800 from Greater Hyderabad, 132 from Rangareddy and 94 from Medchal.  Kerala’s COVID­19 burden continued to rise with increase in local transmission. For the third consecutive day on Sunday, community­acquired cases exceeded imported ones. The State reported 435 new cases, of which, 215 were imported cases of people with travel, while cases of local transmission stood at 218.  In Thiruvananthapuram, 31 out of 40 new cases were through local transmission, as were 35 of 57 cases in Alappuzha, 41 out of the 50 cases in Ernakulam, 41 out of 56 cases in Kasaragod and 24 out of 39 cases in Pathanamthitta. Ten health­care workers and two paramilitary force personnel contracted the disease through local transmission. Local transmission raised the patient load. Thiruvananthapuram with 548 patients had the highest active cases, followed by Malappuram, 521, Alappuzha, 372,

Kannur, 334, Ernakulam, 329, and Palakkad, 328.  Two more deaths were recorded on Sunday, raising the tally to 31. Two persons who died on July 5 and July 7 in Thrissur and Alappuzha were found to have tested positive. In Karnataka with 2,627 new cases, the total touched 38,843. As many as 274 of the total 684 deaths in the State were from Bengaluru. Dr. V. Ravi, Head of Neuro Virology at NIMHANS, who is on the State’s COVID­19 expert committee said: “Scientifically, a minimum threeweek lockdown is essential

to cut down the level of transmission.” Prof. Giridhara K Babu, member of Karnataka’s COVID­19 technical advisory committee was also of the view that a three­week lockdown was required for any “meaningful” effect. This would be an opportunity for the BBMP to gear up and prepare for the worst, he said. The number of patients who tested positive for COVID­19 in Tamil Nadu exceeded 4,000 yet again on Sunday after staying relatively low for two days. In all, 4,244 new cases were recorded taking the total number of positive cases to 1,38,470. Also, 3,617 people were discharged from various facilities after treatment their tally rising to 89,532. The Directorate of Public Health said the number of active cases in Tamil Nadu was now 46,969. (With inputs from Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai bureaus)