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Karnataka on Saturday reported 12 new cases, the highest in a single day so far, taking the tally in the state to 76.

Late at night, the Mysuru district commissioner said five more people had tested positive in the district. But it was yet to be confirmed by the state health department.

Of the cases, 41 are from Bengaluru, eight from Chikkaballapur, while Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada districts have seven each.

Interestingly, the highest number of patients are those from Dubai or those who had transit travel via Dubai. Out of 76 cases, 17 cases (22%) have travel history to Dubai, the capital of Emirate of Dubai and the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar, who is also in-charge of COVID-19 operations, said that Dubai has been a major concern as far as Karnataka COVID-19 patients are concerned. “Most of the positive cases have come through Dubai suggesting something amiss there,” he said. 

Echoing the same, Dr Prakash Kumar, Joint Director, Communicable Diseases, Department of Health and Family Welfare, said, “The layover in Dubai is around six to seven hours. We are seeing Dubai to be the new epicentre of the virus as far as India is concerned.”

UAE was initially not on the list of countries from where passengers were screened. It was added much later when clusters of patients with travel history to Dubai began popping up all over the country.

Patient-19 has infected the maximum so far.

Out of the 12 cases that tested positive on Saturday, five are contacts of Patient 19. All of them are being treated at a Chikkaballapur hospital. Two of them are from Hindupur, Andhra Pradesh, and three are residents of Gauribidanur taluk in Chikkabalapur district.

P19, a 31-year-old man from Chikkaballapur, had travelled to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and returned to India on March 14. Existing patient clusters suggest that P19 had infected the maximum number of people. Officials did not reveal how many people he originally travelled with to Mecca.

Amid the rise in cases, Jawaid Akhtar, Additional Chief Secretary (Health), maintained that the state had not reached stage 3. But he had no definitive answer as to how the Mysuru patient contracted the virus despite health officials he was in touch with not testing positive.

Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said around 1,000 primary contacts of all positive cases have been classified as high-risk and low-risk. The high-risk patients are in government hospitals while the low-risk ones in quarantine facilities.

Bengaluru, Mar 13: Health Minister B Sriramulu on Thursday assured the House that the state government will recruit doctors in all Primary Health Centres across the state through direct recruitment by the end of April this year.

The minister was answering MLA A T Ramaswamy, who raised the issue of shortage of doctors on Thursday. Sriramulu said there are 2,359 primary health centres in Karnataka, of which 1,432 centres have permanent doctors, 436 have doctors on contract basis, 236 have Ayush doctors, 55 have doctors who work under rural service, and the rest work on contract basis under the National Health Mission.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who had recently directed ministers to cancel KPSC recruitment and go for direct recruitment, expressed his anger  as it hasn’t been implemented even now. Sriramulu said, “I have directed the concerned District health officer to take action and go for direct recruitment. It will be done by end of April.”

He also said he is aware of the difference in salary between doctors working under the health department and those working under the medical education department. “This will also be rectified,’’ he assured.

Meanwhile, Sriramulu said that a hospital that he had inaugurated recently in Mysuru, has been shut due to the lack of doctors and furniture. “This will be sorted out soon,’’ he assured.

Mangaluru, May 15: In a shocking development, five residents of Udupi district, who recently came from United Arab Emirates today tested positive for covid-19.

As many as 49 passengers among over 175 repatriates who were brought from Dubai to Mangaluru International Airport on May 12 were from Udupi district.

Hence they were quarantined in Udupi district and their throat swabs were sent for testing on the same day. Today, five of them obtained positive report. They were today shifted to TMA Pai covid-hospital from their hotel rooms.