Karnataka has reported 5,483 new Covid-19 positive cases today (July 31), taking the state's total tally to 1,24,115. Bengaluru, the capital city of the state recorded 2,220 positive cases.
Karnataka has witnessed 5,483 positive cases of coronavirus, while 3,130 discharged from the hospital on Friday. The state has a total of 74,327 active cases. About 84 people died of the COVID-19 infection and the total count of deaths stands at 2,314. Bengaluru leads the chart with 2,220 fresh cases today. The city has had 1,130 discharged and 20 deaths.
Despite the government's warning, some private hospitals have continued to exploit the citizens. Dr K Sudhakar tweeted, "Stringent action will be taken against pvt hospitals which do not cooperate with Arogyamithras deployed by Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust. Non-cooperation with Arogyamithras, who facilitate triage & ensure info on bed availability is updated on dashboard, will not be tolerated."
State govt failed to be proactive: AAP
Prithvi Reddy, the state convener of Aam Aadmi Party alleged while the whole state of Karnataka is now seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases, the state government has failed to be proactive and prepare medical infrastructure in districts outside Bengaluru to handle the increase in cases we are seeing now.
It looks like the government is focused only on Bengaluru and cares only about the city's residents to the detriment of those living in other districts, especially the rural population, who have been totally ignored till now.
While the number of cases in Bengaluru city seems to be stabilising, the situation in other districts of Karnataka is worsening, with the majority of the COVID-19 cases now accounted for outside Bengaluru city. According to government reports, infection rates in Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Mysuru and Koppal have increased by 47.58%, 40.63%, 34.76% and 20.55% respectively during the last few weeks, as compared to a 17.10% increase in Bengaluru.
It seems that the state government has completely failed to provide proper medical infrastructure in these districts to handle the surge. All the government officials, ministers and legislators are posing like Corona Warriors, but this posturing is restricted within Bengaluru city. Nobody seems to be worried about what is happening in the rest of Karnataka or taking responsibility of caring for people of their constituencies.
The home district of Health Minister B. Sriramulu has seen 3744 cases. Minister for Water resources Ramesh Jarkiholi is also Belagavi district incharge. He is celebrating that he had released 10 thousand crores to the irrigation department. But Belagavi has recorded 2127 COVID-19 cases. Kalaburagi, Gadag, Dakshina Kannada, Hasan, Udupi, Tumakuru and Mysuru have each seen 2706, 2929, 3086, 1175, 1505, 1173 and 2654 cases respectively.
It is shocking to note that the COVID-19 Information Portal of Karnataka government has removed the information about bed availability across the state.
Aam Aadmi Party has demanded the answer to five critical questions from the state government
1. How many random tests have been conducted in districts outside Bengaluru city?
2. How many times District in-charges and MLAs have held meetings with government officials responsible for COVID-19 response in their districts?
3. Why is the state government not providing information about beds, ventilators and Corona care centres available in each and every district to the public?
4. What steps are being taken by the state government to contain the spread of COVID-19 in all the districts of Karnataka?
5. How many days have political representatives and district incharge MLA's of various parties worked in their respective districts and constituencies, apart from being visible in Bengaluru city?
Aam Aadmi Party demands the government give a satisfactory answer all these questions and address this worsening situation before it spirals out of control, like it has done for Bengaluru Urban.
