While the number of fresh COVID-19 cases fell below 100 in Karnataka after nearly nine months on Monday, Health Minister K. Sudhakar said the fourth wave was expected in the country in August this year but added that there is no need to panic since vaccination drive had covered a large population.
Insisting that the COVID protocol had to be followed, the Minister informed the Legislative Council the variant BA.2 that was first detected in Philippines had been reported in 40 countries so far. The mathematical calculations of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur has also predicted peaking of the fourth wave in August, he said responding to a question by BJP member Sashil Namoshi. "We need to be on high alert and I will also discuss the issue with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai soon."
Dr. Sudhakar pointed out that 4.97 crore persons in the State has taken vaccination, of which 4.76 crore have been vaccinated with both doses. In all, 10.25 crore doses of vaccine has been administered in the State, which took the vaccination rate to 96 %. "There is no need to panic as most people have been vaccinated."
Meanwhile, Karnataka on Monday reported 71 new cases of COVID-19 taking the total to 39,44,785. It was on June 28 and 29, 2021 last when Karnataka had reported 89 and 93 cases respectively. Of the 71 cases, 53 were reported from Bengaluru Urban. The day’s test positivity rate in the State stood at 0.35%.
With two deaths, the State’s toll rose to 40,039. With this, the day’s Case Fatality Rate (CFR) touched 2.81%. This is apart from 42 deaths of patients due to non-COVID-19 reasons. As many as 173 persons were discharged on Monday taking the total recoveries to 39,02,813. Active cases reduced to 1,891.
As many as 20,272 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, including 17,460 RT-PCR tests. With this, the total number of tests rose to 6,53,15,408.
