Bengaluru
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said experts in the state have predicted that the third wave of the pandemic will peak between the last week of January and the first week of February. “Experts who have studied the trend in various states have estimated that the Covid wave in the state could peak by January end or February first week. The chief secretary has already ordered booking of cases and legal action against those who violate Covid rules,” said Bommai said.
“The number of Covid-19 cases has increased, but there is not much load on hospitals. We need to concentrate on improving out-patient department (OPD) facilities. All this will be discussed with the expert committee,” he said.
According to experts, during the peak of Covid-19, cases in the state could be anywhere between 70,000 to 150,000. “This is as per the projections that have been very clearly made by the Indian Institute of Science and the scientists at Indian statistical Institute, Dr Shiva Athreya and Dr Rajesh Sundaresan,” said Dr N Ravi, a virologist.
“They have modelled, and they have given the best and worst-case scenario. And the best and worst-case scenarios are not in the hands of the government. It is in the hands of the people. You can’t blame the government for putting restrictions, or the spread. The best-case scenario is that it would be 70,000-75,000 infections per day towards the end of this month. The worst-case scenario is 1.5 lakh new infections every day for one or two days in the first or second week of February,” Dr Ravi told Hindustan Times.
Meanwhile, the officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have predicted that in the capital city the cases will peak by January 25, and it would be as high as 35,000 a day. This information was conveyed to the chief minister during the Covid-19 review meeting held on Tuesday.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have predicted that in the capital city the cases will peak by January 25, and it would be as high as 35,000 a day. This information was conveyed to the chief minister during the Covid-19 review meeting held on Tuesday.
{{/usCountry}}BBMP has projected that Covid cases saw a jump of 250 per cent in just a week’s time in Bengaluru. The projection is based on the week-on-week increase in Covid cases, said a senior official. The BBMP officials further said that the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is driven by the Omicron variant. A majority of people are reporting high fever, body pain, congestion and cough for a short interval of time.
Going by the BBMP’s projections, daily cases in Bengaluru will cross the highest numbers reported during the second wave of coronavirus. According to Karnataka health department data, the record of the highest number of cases reported in the city is yet to be broken. Bengaluru had reported 26,756 on April 30, 2021.
Karnataka on Wednesday registered 40,499 new Covid-19 cases and 21 deaths. The positivity rate in the state stood at 18.80 per cent. Capital Bengaluru alone recorded 24,135 fresh coronavirus infections along with five deaths.
Meanwhile, the positivity rate in a district other than Bengaluru is on the rise. At the beginning of January, Bengaluru Urban reported the highest positivity rate, however as per the data released by the government on January 17, the capital is in fifth place with a positivity rate of 23.78%, with Mysuru, Mandya and Hassan registering higher positivity rates than Bengaluru. Hassan topped the list with a positivity rate of 32.93%.