Bengaluru: Karnataka saw a slight dip in new Covid-19 cases with 7866 people testing positive Tuesday against the figures of 9k plus last week.
With today’s cases, the caseload has gone up to 4,12,190 and active cases 96918.
The state recorded 146 deaths taking the toll to 6680.
Bengaluru figures remain high with 3102 people testing positive. The city recorded 55 deaths taking the toll to 2266.
Mysuru, Ballari, Dharwad and Dakshina Kannada recorded over 300 cases. But Shivomogga sprang a surprise with no cases being recorded on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that Karnataka’s rural areas now account for a quarter of the state’s Covid-19 burden.
Shalini Rajneesh, state nodal officer for Covid-19 testing and additional chief secretary, was quoted in the media as saying “There are approximately one lakh coronavirus cases in rural areas of the state.” Despite this, no district-wise break-up is available.
The spike in cases in rural areas is due to constant movement of people. Instances of villagers declining to undergo tests and not following isolation protocols only make pandemic management more difficult, health experts say.
“Many people have returned to their villages in Karnataka from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, other northern states and Bengaluru. This was bound to happen. However, the medical infrastructure in rural areas is not on par with facilities in urban centres, which is a concern,” said Dr CN Manjunath, chairperson, Covid-19 expert committee.