Tumakuru district recorded its second COVID-19 death on Wednesday, taking the toll in the State to 21. As many as 12 new cases were reported on Wednesday, taking the total number of positive cases to 535 in the State.
A 73-year-old male patient admitted on April 25 at the designated hospital in Tumkuru with complaints of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) succumbed to the disease on Wednesday. His test reports came after his death.
On March 27, Tumakuru recorded its first COVID-19 death when a 60-year-old Tablighi Jamaat meeting attendee succumbed to the disease.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar told presspersons on Wednesday that the deceased had a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, and asthma.
The 12 new cases are eight from Kalaburagi and one each from Davangere, Hukkeri in Belagavi district, and Nanjangud in Mysuru district. While Bengaluru Urban did not record any case on Wednesday, Davangere (where one case that was reported earlier had recovered, making it a non-COVID district) recorded its second case, bringing it back in the list of affected districts. This district is back in the red zone now. The new cases include a four-year-and-six-month-old girl child from Kalaburagi and four teenagers.
Karnataka’s COVID-19 infection growth rate stood at 1.25% in the last five days. The number of discharged persons has exceeded those infected in the five days. While a total of 60 cases have tested positive in the last five days, 64 people have been discharged, the Minister said.
All frontline government employees who are working hand-in-hand with the Health Department in COVID-19 activities will be tested at K.C. General Hospital. “With police personnel already being tested, those employees other than police will be tested in K.C. General Hospital,” the Minister said.
Stranded Indians to be brought back
The government has chalked out a plan of action to bring back Indians stranded in other countries. As many as 10,823 people from Karnataka are stranded abroad — 4,408 tourists and visitors, 3,074 students, 2,784 migrants and professionals, and 557 ship crew, said Mr. Suresh Kumar.
Of these, 6,100 have been shortlisted to be brought back in the first phase. Giving the break-up of people stranded in various countries, he said, 328 are in Canada, 927 in the U.S., 2,575 in the UAE, 414 in Qatar, and 927 are in Saudi Arabia.
