Gundu Rao instructed to ensure testing of all SARI and ILI cases for Covid-19 at all private and government tertiary centres.
Published Dec 16, 2023 | 8:46 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 16, 2023 | 8:46 PM
Dinesh Gundu Rao held a high-level meeting with experts from the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee. (Supplied)
With a rise in Covid-19 cases and the finding of a new variant — JN.1 — in Kerala, the Karnataka government has decided to begin testing symptomatic patients in hospitals.
Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, on Saturday, 15 December, said that a high-level meeting will be held on Tuesday, along with experts from the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), for further guidelines on this.
“We have decided to test symptomatic patients in hospitals across the state for now. If there is any alarming situation, then we will take further action. As of now, a meeting with TAC will be held on Tuesday for further guidelines,” said Gundu Rao to the media.
Gundu Rao instructed to ensure testing of all SARI (severe acute respiratory infections) cases and ILI (influenza-like illness) cases for Covid-19 at all private and government tertiary centres, including medical colleges and all bordering districts, to remain vigilant and ensure adequate testing and reporting.
He further instructed that all Covid-positive cases with CT valve of less than 25 should be sent to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) for whole genomic sequencing, as this will help in identifying the strain.
The state, at present, has about 30,000 RTPCR test kits and requires about three lakh more. Announcing this, the Health Minister said that they have already called for a tender and will soon order more number of test kits.
“In a week’s time, the state will have more number of kits. This is all for preparedness. Presently, we have 30,000 kits and that is enough to begin testing of symptomatic patients visiting government hospitals,” Gundu Rao said.
The Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (KSMSCL) has been instructed to procure RTPCR kits, RAT KITS, and viral transport media to ensure adequate supply in all the government hospitals for the next three months.
Testing is needed to understand the situation in the state. Unless, the number of tests are not increased, one would not know where the state is standing in terms of the Covid-19 situation, the minister said.
The current scenario of Covid-19 in Karnataka, as on date, was noted to be 58 active cases — 47 in home isolation, 11 hospitalised (5 in wards and 6 in ICUs).
There have been no deaths reported in the past 2 months. However, the death of a 64-year-old has been recently reported from a Bengaluru hospital on 15 December, a release from the Health Department stated. The patient allegedly had multiple comorbidities and Covid-19 was an incidental finding.
Meanwhile, the Health Department has instructed all district hospitals and health care centres to ensure that they conduct mock drills to check on preparedness to handle rise in Covid-19 cases.
“This is important as we should not be caught off-guard in case of demand for oxygen, increase in ICU beds. So far, there is no such situation,” he said.
The mock drill has been initiated in all the government and private hospitals in the state, as per the instructions received from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The exercise was started on 14 December and will be completed on 18 December. Data will be available on 19 December and any shortcomings will be addressed.
The components being monitored are the
The Health Minister stressed that the people of Karnataka need not panic. He said that, as of now, there is no situation of panic or any kind of scrutiny for passengers coming from Kerala.
“From whatever we have been told, there is no situation of panic. Preparedness is the key and monitoring the situation very closely is important and that is being done. People should not panic unnecessarily and spread fake information or rumours,” he stressed.
At the TAC meeting to be held on Tuesday, they will discuss the guidelines and suggestions to monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, too, Health Minister Ma Subramanian addressed the media and said that the state Health Department has intensified surveillance in places where fever cases are reported and also increased RTPCR tests.
He asked people not to panic over the situation and said, “People who have tested positive only have throat pain and cough for three to four days; there are no severe symptoms.”
As of 15 December, Tamil Nadu has 36 active cases with a discharge ratio of 98.94 percent. Among the Indian states, Kerala has the maximum of 1,144 infections with a discharge ratio of 98.94 per cent, as per the Covid-19 data available on the Union government’s website.
