3k Covid patients missing in Bengaluru

As many as 3,000 people infected with Covid-19 have gone missing from Bengaluru and efforts to trace them are underway, Karnataka revenue minister R Ashoka said on Wednesday.

Addressing reporters in Bengaluru, Ashoka said: “We are giving free medicines to the people which can control 90% of cases, but they have (Covid infected people) switched off their mobile phones. They decide to reach the hospital only when they arrive at a critical stage, desperately looking for ICU beds. This is what is happening now.”

Urging all those infected to keep their cell phones available for officials to reach them for contact tracing and follow-ups, the minister said: “I pray to them with folded hands that Covid cases will only increase due to this. It is wrong when you reach for ICU beds at the last moment.”

“At least 2,000 to 3,000 people in Bengaluru have switched off their phones and left their houses. We don’t know where they have gone,” he added.

Recently, the Karnataka government stepped up its contact tracing activity after it found that officials in Bengaluru among other districts were tracing only upto four contacts per infected person, in contrast to guidelines that mandate tracing at least 20 contacts.

On Wednesday, Karnataka, which is under a 14-day lockdown since Tuesday night, reported 39,047 new Covid cases and 229 deaths. Of the fresh cases, 22,596 were from Bengaluru alone.