Justin D’Silva
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Udupi, Jul 31: A gradual increase has been observed in the number of coronavirus cases in Udupi district. The district administration is working tirelessly to curb the spread of infection. However, the source of infection in some cases remains untraceable.
Currently, Udupi has 3,612 cases, of which 2,323 patients have been cured and discharged. Meanwhile, the part which is a cause of concern is the recent rise in coronavirus infections. On March 25, the district reported its first case and then on March 29 two more cases were reported. The district remained in the green zone for about one month until May 15. Unfortunately, after May 15 the cases of infection skyrocketed. The number of corona-positive cases reached 100 mark on May 25 and within a matter of 18 days, the cases hit 1,000 mark on June 13.
Dr TMA Pai Covid hospital
As per the official Covid war room website of Karnataka, the coronavirus cases in Udupi have doubled every 14 days. The daily growth rate is at 6.1%. With these calculations, Udupi will be reaching the mark of 7,000 positive cases by August 15, with a possibility of community transmission which will make it difficult for the district administration to handle.
Amid the rising cases, one satisfactory factor is that Udupi is setting up new avenues for the treatment of coronavirus patients. The private hospitals, special Covid Care Centres, home isolation norms have been implemented and followed in the district.
As of now, 5,010 persons are under active quarantine as per the war room data. In the last seven days, the positivity rate reached 21.3% with an average of 366 tests being conducted per day. The district directs its efforts to meet the target of 630 tests per day of which it is currently achieving around 58.1%.
The corona-positive cases reported in Udupi are largely those who are asymptomatic patients constituting to 74.9% of total positive cases. Only 25.1% of patients are found to be symptomatic. The district has reported 28 deaths till date. In these deaths, most of the patients were suffering from multiple disorders and just one person has solely died due to coronavirus. However, the death numbers are likely to increase as per million around 4,863 tests have been conducted in the last 10 days.
As per the Covid war room reports, as of June 27, 1,603 cases have been reported from domestic travellers whereas 1,159 cases are due to the primary contacts. The age group of 20 to 40 years constitute the larger part of corona positive patients with the number reaching 1,667.
The second highest is followed by the age group of 40 to 60 years with 1,049 cases, 283 children below the age of 10 are those infected with the virus in the district.
Udupi district is currently handling the situation in collaboration with Dr TMA Pai COVID hospital which has a bed capacity of 140 beds along with a 200-bed facility in the COVID block at KMC Hospital, Manipal. Udupi district hospital is currently dedicated as an isolation facility. Kundapur and Karkala taluk hospitals are also involved in treating asymptomatic Covid positive patients. Around 22 private hospitals of the district have been made available for the treatment of coronavirus patients. Currently, five patients are under treatment in the ICU. The only cause of worry at present are those cases which are untraceable, giving rise to the possibility of already prevailing community spread, as per the experts.