It may be Bengaluru Urban that is reporting the highest number of cases in the State, but when it comes to positivity rates, Mysuru is leading the list of districts in Karnataka.
An analysis by the Karnataka State COVID-19 War Room of the daily report as on August 28, 5 p.m., showed that in the last 15 days from the date of analysis, Mysuru had the highest positivity rate among all districts with 25%. Shivamogga, Ballari and Gadag were a close second with a 23% positivity rate, followed by Udupi and Chikkamagaluru with 20%.
On the other end of the graph is Chickballapur with 7%, Mandya at 8% and Kodagu, Bidar, Uttara Kannada and Chamarajanagar with 9%. Bengaluru, which has been the most significant contributor to the State’s 3,27,076 cases with 1,24,442, has 12% positivity rate.
In the last seven days from Friday, Mysuru had a positivity rate of 34.1%. Ballari had the second highest positivity rate with 23.4%, followed by Gadag with 23.3%. Chamarajanagar has the least positivity rate at 7.4%, followed by Kodagu (7.6%) and Mandya (7.7%).
For a three day period from the date of analysis, Karnataka had a positivity rate of 15%. Mysuru’s rate was 37.8%, followed by Chikkamagaluru (28.1%) and Gadag (25%).
‘Advantageous’
C.N. Manjunath, director, Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and nodal officer for labs and testing in Karnataka’s COVID-19 task force, told The Hindu that the positivity rate of Karnataka was around 14% in the last few days, and the high positivity rate should be seen as an advantage rather than cause alarm among people.
“It (the higher rate) in certain districts such as Mysuru probably means that more symptomatic people are being tested, while in districts like Bengaluru, more random testing is being conducted. The higher positivity rates do not mean new disease burden, but existing disease burden coming to light,” he explained.
As on Saturday, as many as 72,684 tests, including Rapid Antigen Detection Test and RTPCR, were conducted, taking the total number of tests conducted in the State to 27,85,718.
“Had we conducted fewer tests, the new number of cases being reported would also be low. But as you pick up more cases, you are preventing further spread, which is advantageous. This means it is also preventive as those cases where early treatment is needed are being attended to,” he added.
