BENGALURU: Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said the Covid-19 pandemic is under control in the state and there is no need for panic.
Randeep D, commissioner, department of health and family welfare, admitted there is an increase in the average weekly positive cases and the positivity rate. "However, there is no increase in the number of hospital admissions nor have there been any deaths due to the infection. It is not the start of another wave," said Randeep, adding that the department has also not noticed any new variant in the new caseload and BA.2 variant continues to be dominant.
The symptoms for this variant are cold-like sore throat, fever, body pain, etc.
Randeep attributed the rise in numbers to people not wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. Asked if there has been a noticeable spike in clusters in the city, the commissioner said there was none. "Most of these are from a single family or in a complex. There are no big clusters that are of concern right now," he said.
The commissioner said that the department is not letting its guard down but watching how things pan out. "Cases are rising across the country. We have directed PHCs in border areas to test and isolate symptomatic travellers," said Randeep adding that they have also increased the genomic testing of samples, especially those of symptomatic international travellers.