As States prepare to unlock, 10 die in Telangana

As States prepare to unlock, 10 die in Telangana

Fatalities in Karnataka and Kerala point to challenge of managing the disease; many travellers continue to test positive

07/06/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

The COVID-19 trajectory in Telangana took a sharp turn on Saturday with the death of ten people. The State recorded a total of 3,496 cases, of which active cases were 1,663, and death toll rose to 123.

Kerala on Saturday crossed the milestone of 1,000 active COVID-19 cases, as 108 more cases were confirmed. There was one fatality from infection.

In Karnataka, two more persons from containment zones in Bidar and Vijayapura succumbed to the disease.

Kerala had 1,029 active cases, out of a total case tally of 1,805. Fifty more patients were put on the recovery list, taking the total of those who recovered to 762.

Of the 108 new cases, 98 were imported, diagnosed among those who had returned from abroad or other States. Ten persons were infected by local transmission by other infected persons.

A 61-year-old seriously ill patient, a Mumbai-returnee, at Manjeri Medical College, Malappuram, who was the first recipient of convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19 patients in the State, died on Saturday, raising the death toll to 15.

Senior Health officials said no hospitals in Kerala had been chosen to be part of the PLACID clinical trial of ICMR, and the State had to draw up guidelines for administering convalescent plasma therapy on compassionate grounds or when there were no other treatment options left.

Clearance for the therapy was given on Friday night and plasma from two prior patients at Manjeri MCH was administered to the patient early on Saturday.

Doctors said that the patient was on ventilator and had deteriorated too much to be saved.

The number of people on institutional or home quarantine in the State was 1,81,482, while another 1,615 persons with suspected COVID-19 symptoms were isolated in hospitals.

Three days after clocking over 4,000 cases, Karnataka’s tally touched 5,213 on Saturday, with 378 new cases. Of these, 333 were inter-State and eight international travellers; 329 travellers were from Maharashtra.

With two more deaths, the toll in the State was 59, apart from two non-COVID deaths.

One of the fatalities was that of a 55-year-old womanfrom Bidar with severe acute respiratory illness and the other an 82-year-old woman from Vijayapura with co-morbidities.

Also, 280 persons recovered and were discharged; with 1,968 discharges, the State had 3,184 active cases.

More Maharashtra returnees tested positive in Udupi. With 121 cases, this district recorded the highest cases for the third day, totalling 785 active ones. Yadgir followed with 103 new cases. While Kalaburagi recorded 69 cases, Dakshina Kannada had 24, and Bengaluru Urban 18 cases.

With 96% of all active cases being asymptomatic, the Health Department submitted a proposal to the State Task Force that even asymptomatic persons from Maharashtra should be tested.

Andhra Pradesh saw the highest single-day spike in fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday. A whopping 210 fresh cases, including a record 161 cases of locals were detected after 12,771 samples were tested, the Health Department said.

The tally rose to 4,460 and the number of active cases to 1,786. The number of patients discharged was 2,601 and the toll stood at 73, with no new deaths reported.

(With inputs from Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Vijayawada bureaus)