Karnataka asks border districts to ramp up vaccination as Kerala battles Covid

Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Thursday said the state has administered around 12 lakh doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in a single day. “We have directed administrations of border districts to achieve 100% vaccination coverage in villages lying within 20 km area of the state border with Kerala,” the Karnataka health minister said.  

Sudhakar also said that over 65 students from Kerala have tested positive for Covid-19 at a college in Kolar. “We are taking action in this regard,” he added.

Kerala has accounted for nearly 70% of the 47,092 new Covid-19 cases and a third of deaths, a week after it celebrated its biggest festival during which family and social gatherings were common.

The Karnataka government, which had earlier made a negative RT-PCR certificate mandatory for those coming in from Kerala, has further tightened curbs.

Recently, the state government said those coming in from Kerala will have to undergo a compulsory institutional quarantine for 7 days.

“They shall further do self-assessment and in case of onset of symptoms shall get RT-PCR Test done, seek medical consultation and follow the state protocol,” the Karnataka government statement read.

“Large number of people travel daily to bordering districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi from Kerala for education, treatment, livelihood and various other activities. We will also release guidelines for mandatory institutional quarantine of travellers coming through train and flight,” the Karnataka health minister said.

Bengaluru airport tweets guidelines for Kerala passengers

The Bengaluru airport took to Twitter to share a set of guidelines for passengers coming from Kerala.

Meanwhile, Karnataka registered 1,159 new coronavirus cases and 21 deaths on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections to 29,50,604 and the toll to 37,339. The day also saw 1,112 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 28,94,827.

Bengaluru Urban accounted for most number of cases (359), as the city saw 232 discharges and seven deaths. The total number of active cases in the state stood at 18,412. 

While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.66%, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 1.81%. 

Out of 21 deaths reported on Wednesday seven were from Bengaluru Urban, while Dakshina Kannada logged five, Udupi three and Hassan two, followed by others. Among new cases in districts, Dakshina Kannada came behind Bengaluru Urban with 191 infections, Kodagu was next with 95, Mysuru and Udupi logged 91 each, followed by others. 

Bengaluru Urban district topped the list of positive cases, with a total of 12,38,196, followed by Mysuru 1,76,170 and Tumakuru 1,19,284. Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban was on top with 12,14,637, followed by Mysuru 1,72,795 and Tumakuru 1,17,532. 

Cumulatively a total of 4,36,49,857 samples have been tested in the state till now, out of which 1,75,319 were on Wednesday alone.