Bengaluru
Karnataka on Wednesday recorded a single-day jump of 3,176 Covid-19 cases, taking the total tally to 47,253. Wednesday’s figures were the highest so far and comes on a day when Bengaluru Urban and Rural went into a lockdown. The state also recorded 87 Covid-related deaths, taking the death toll to 928. With over 47,000 cases, Karnataka has overtaken Gujarat to become the fourth worst-hit state after Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.
But the spot of worry continued to be Karnataka’s capital city which recorded the highest Covid cases and deaths — 1,975 and 60 respectively. The increased mortality rate in the city is blamed on nonavailability of hospital beds, especially those needing ICUs. As on July 11, of the 502 patients in ICUs across Karnataka, 322 were in Bengaluru.
Analysis of data for the 11 days in July shows about 20-22 samples in every 100 returned positive — a rate that is three-four times that of June, when roughly five in every 100 tested positive.
Meanwhile, though there was a lockdown in Bengaluru, vehicles were seen on the roads as people seem to have taken the restrictions casually. On Tuesday night, roads leading out of Bengaluru were chocked as hundreds of people decided to abandon what was once a city of IT dreams and head for their hometowns and villages in other districts.
The rush was so heavy that two main toll plazas allowed for free passage of vehicles. At one stage, there was bumper-to-bumper traffic of over 5km from toll gates.
