Covid-19: 64-year-old Bengaluru man dies due to infection

A 64yearold man died in the city due to Covid19 infection five days ago Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Wednesday Asked if the cause of death is the new subvariant JN1 of the SARS CoV2 virus he said it is not known so farThe person who had comorbidities is a resident of Chamarajpet and died on December 15 the Minister told reportersIt is still not known whether the patient had JN1 sub variant infection He had heart failure also TB infection He also had hypertension lung disease bronchial asthma along with Covid19 and pneumonia Rao addedCommissioner of Health and Family Welfare Services Randeep D told PTI Its the first Covid death after recent surge in casesRao meanwhile said the state government would increase testing to gauge the rate of Covid19 infections In the next three days it intends to increase the number to 5000 tests per dayRTPCR tests have been made mandatory for all severe acute respiratory infection SARI cases and at least 1 in 20 influenzalike illness ILI cases he saidA meeting will be held with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Technical Advisory Committee TAC on Thursday to discuss further measures to be taken and preparations made Rao saidThe Minister earlier attended a virtual meeting by union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya with Health Ministers of all states officials from the central and state governments and representatives from Indian Council of Medical Research ICMR and NITI Aayog among othersHe said there is need to do more tests and genome sequencing to know about the spread of infection adding instructions have been issued to do more tests especially in border districts Dakshina Kannada Kodagu Chamarajanagara and MysuruKarnataka government on Tuesday issued an advisory asking people above 60 years those with comorbidities pregnant women and lactating mothers to wear face masks when outdoor and to strictly avoid visiting closed poorly ventilated spaces and crowded areas in the wake of current Covid19 situation in the country and detection of JN1 sub variant in neighbouring KeralaIt also issued a circular instructing authorities in districts bordering Kerala and Tamil Nadu to be vigilant and ensure adequate testing and timely reporting of Covid casesKarnataka has emerged as the state doing the most number of tests Rao said More than 1000 tests have been conducted in the last 24 hours Kerala is also doing nearly 1000 tests dailyOur intention is to increase it testing every day and by Saturday we want to do 5000 tests per day he saidFor genome sequencing there should be availability of at least 50 samples he further said As we do more tests and sequencing we will get an accurate picture on the situation and infection spread level So the state government has decided to do thisHighlighting that the Centre has advised to take all necessary precautions and preparations related to arrangements for oxygen supplies ventilators and isolation beds among others he said the state government is already taking measures in this regardWe have requested the Centre for cooperation in reducing the cost of annual maintenance of PM CARE ventilators as it is bit expensive Also we have requested for restoring the ICMR portal which has not been functioning properly to get regular dataAsserting that there is no need for any worry Rao said the state government has made it mandatory for all health workers to wear masks as they will be more exposed to infectionsThe Minister pointing out that the new variant has been found in various countries and its spread may be fast like in the case of Omicron infections but is not strong and life threatening as in the case of Covid first and second wavesWe Karnataka during todays meeting raised a query about imposing any restrictions like in the case of foreign travelers and screening in border districts bordering the states that have higher number of cases and at airportsBut the Centre said that there are no restrictions or screening as of now and if any change or fresh guidelines in this regard it will communicate depending on the situation However if there are symptomatic cases it can be looked at he saidOn increasing Covid testing Rao said there is a requirement of testing kits and by Saturday the state will get enough supplies of RTPCR kits and VTM vials required for testingThere is no restriction on New Year celebrations and gatherings as of now but wearing masks is always good for everyone especially at crowded places the Minister saidHe said the government has not gone into quarantine rules or protocol as of now We will look into it if the severity of infection and hospitalisation increaseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever