Karnataka: Case Fatality Rate Rises Even as COVID Cases Fall

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The COVID fatality rate in Karnataka rose to 3.24 per cent on Tuesday, 2 June as against 2.47 per cent the previous day. At least 464 more patients have died due to COVID in the last 24 hours, indicating the severity of the second wave in Karnataka.

Bengaluru alone accounted for 276 fatalities, data indicates.

At least 29,554 persons in Karnataka have lost their lives to COVID-19, so far, with nearly half of these fatalities occurring in May alone, the HIndustan Times reported.

Though Karnataka has seen a sharp decline in new infections, the number of fatalities continues to raise concerns in the state, currently under lockdown until at least 7 June.

According to an Indian Express report, Karnataka registered 13,760 deaths in May, a four-fold increase from 3,209 deaths in April. April and May, account for 57 per cent of Karnataka’s total COVID death toll of 29,554, and as much as 66 per cent of Bengaluru’s total deaths –13,622.

Lockdown Likely to Extend

On Tuesday, Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar said stringent measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 would remain in place in the state till daily cases fall below the 5,000 mark or the case positivity rate drops below 5 per cent.

On Monday, 1 June, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) recommended that the government continue to impose a lockdown till the positivity rate falls below 5 per cent. Their report suggested that the lockdown be observed for two more weeks after 7 June until the daily new cases fall below 5,000 and the case fatality rate falls below one per cent.

While daily new cases in Karnataka have fallen from the peak of 50,000 in early May to around 15,000 now, 24 of 30 districts have a positivity rate above 10 per cent, with 10 districts at more than 20 per cent, The Indian Express reported.

The fatality rate in as many as 18 districts is above the benchmark of 1 per cent.

The lockdown in the state, imposed on May 10, is as of now scheduled to continue till 7 June. Karnataka, as of Tuesday recorded 14,304 new cases, with 29,271 recoveries, bringing the active case count down to 2,98,299.