With 63 fresh cases, Karnataka sees highest single-day spike

Karnataka reported 63 new positive cases of Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, the highest single-day spike, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 925 with 31 deaths. Among the new cases, 43 has had travel history, either to Gujarat or Maharashtra. The opening up of inter-state borders has resulted in a sudden increase in the number of cases in the state and a majority of cases reported on Tuesday were from Dharwad, Davanagere and Bagalkot districts.

Karnataka’s Covid-19 spokesperson and education minister S Suresh Kumar said that chances of the infection spreading have reduced as all inter-state travellers have now been institutionally quarantined. “Even if they return to small town centres or villages, they are kept in institutional quarantine. In fact, villagers are more cautious about the spread of the disease and they will not allow any person returning to the village to roam around freely,” he said.

Health commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said all passengers arriving on a train to Bengaluru from Delhi on Thursday will also be institutionally quarantined. “We have already sent messages to all passengers informing them of quarantining in hotels or hostels,” Pandey said. Within a week, the number of affected districts in Karnataka has gone up to 25 from 20 earlier, including Shivamogga and Hassan.