Despite barring entry of people from 5 states, Karnataka sees steady spike in COVID-19 cases

Bengaluru: Even as the Karnataka government banned the entry of people from five states, including worst-hit Maharashtra, several parts of the state witnessed a steady spike in COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours with a wave of returnees from domestic travel.

People returning from other states accounted for a major share of the 187 coronavirus cases registered in Karnataka on Monday, an official said, adding that the state's tally has climbed to 3,408.

"New cases reported from Sunday 5 pm to Monday 5 pm, 187," a health official was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.

Out of the 187 news cases, 125 or 67 per cent of the cases were domestic returnees.

As many as 114 or 92 per cent of the returnees returned from Maharashtra - the worst-affected state by coronavirus in the country.

The districts that saw spike in cases in the past 24 hours include, Bengaluru Urban, Kalaburagi, Mandya, Udupi, Hassan, Chikkaballapura and Shivamogga.

Among the new cases, Bengaluru Urban contributed (28), followed by Kalaburagi (24), Mandya (15), Udupi (73), Hassan (16), Shivamogga (9), Chikkaballapura (5), Ballari (3), Dakshina Kannada (4), Bidar, Bagalkote and Dharwad (2 each), Vijayapura, Kolar, Haveri and Ramanagar (1 each).

Of the new cases, 127 are men and 60 women, including 11 children below 10.

As many as 2,026 are active cases while 1,328 have been discharged, and 12 patients are in ICU across the state.

Top five places with active cases in the state include Yadgir (257), Mandya (224), Udupi (196), Raichur (179) and Kalaburagi (170).

Last week, the Karnataka government barred the entry of people from five states via flights and trains including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, asserting a large number of people arriving from these states have tested positive for COVID-19.

"People are coming from other states to Karnataka... we have decided to suspend air traffic from five states, as cases here (Karnataka) may further increase," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy had said on Thursday.