Bengaluru sees 900% jump in Covid fatalities in July

Bengaluru: Karnataka’s capital city crossed the 1000 mark in Covid-19 deaths Thursday even as the state recorded the highest number of Coronavirus cases at 6128, pushing the total to 1,86,632.

The day also witnessed 83 Covid deaths, taking the total to 2230.

Bengaluru alone recorded 2233 new Covid cases as total ballooned to 53,324.

Bulk of the Covid burden and deaths have been from Bengaluru. It is noteworthy that Bengaluru’s  Covid toll crossed the 1,000-mark and the number of cases crossed 50,000 — the same milestones that were breached by the state only 13 days ago.

Data shows that the number of fatalities increased by more than 900% in Bengaluru in July at a rate of around 31 per day, with multiple days seeing over 50 deaths. While the toll touched exactly 100 on July 2, the city has added nearly 900 deaths since then.

Compared to this, in May, a total of 10 people had died of Covid in Bengaluru, an increase from five as of April 26. The number of deaths jumped to 95 by June-end, and the city started to show signs of panic with the authorities scrambling to create infrastructure.

In June, the city had 4,555 cases, a significant jump from 357 as on May 31.

However, the June spike looks measly in comparison with July, which has witnessed alarming increases.

 When the month began, there were under 5,000 cases. But it took just under six days to touch 10,000, while in the next eight days, the tally doubled to 20,969 (July 14). It took 10 days for cases to double again.Officials say that the deaths are on the rise as people are reluctant to report about their infection.

Dr CN Manjunath, member of the task force, was quoted in the media as saying: “We must now look at bringing even patients with moderate conditions to hospital. In many cases, we’ve found that patients get medical intervention after their condition has reached the critical stage, which may be too late. The practice must change.”