ICU beds lying vacant in Udupi as covid positivity rate reduces to 1%

Udupi, Dec 1: Coastal district of Udupi, which was one of the hubs of covid-19 in Karnataka, has managed to bring the pandemic under control.

Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha told media persons that the covid positivity rate has drastically reduced from 25 per cent to 30 per cent in July to 1 per cent in November. The confirmed cases in August was 250 to 400 daily and but in November it was around 20.

He said presently there was no fear as the number seems to vary from low to slightly high. He attributed the variation in cases to the fact that many students were being tested daily. “The target is to test over 1,600 people but around 3,000 samples are being tested daily,” he said.

The previous death from the infection was reported on November 7. Symptomatic patients account for only 9 per cent. Among the active cases, 43 are in hospitals while 176 are in home isolation. He added that three were in ICU and one among them was on ventilator support.

As of now, 87 ICU beds are lying vacant. Mild cases are more and the recovery rate is 98.3 per cent. The number of infected per one million tested in the district is 1,87,277.

Emphasising on following Covid-19 guidelines, Jagadeesha regretted that public was behaving as if the pandemic was over. “It is sad that the awareness level has reduced drastically,” he lamented. The DC added that officials would have to pay for any negligence.