Bengaluru: Karnataka must prepare itself for handling one lakh COVID-19 cases, said deputy chief minister Ashwath Narayan, while the number of people who tested positive for the disease in the state crossed 40 with a second suspected coronavirus death reported on Wednesday. The final reports of the deceased are awaited.
"It is estimated that one lakh people would be tested positive for COVID-19. So all preparations are being done to handle it. We have already placed orders for 1,000 ventilators," the minister told the legislative council on Tuesday.
"So far we have not had any patient in the state who needed ventilator. Patients are getting better with routine treatment," he added.
The minister's statement came a day after Dr Devi Shetty, founder of the multi-speciality chain of hospitals Narayana Health, said in an exclusive conversation with CNBC-TV18 that Karnataka alone was likely to have a minimum of 80,000 COVID-19 cases.
The deputy CM also said that the government has decided to open 20,000 hotel rooms for quarantine facility. In addition to this, the state had announced that it had placed orders for 15 lakh masks.
Karnataka health minister B Sriramulu said that the government is prepared.
"There are 700 ventilators in private and government hospitals. In addition to this, we are buying 1,000 ventilators. Private hospitals have agreed to provide 30% ventilators for free. The state has set aside Rs 200 crore to handle the pandemic," he told the legislative council on Tuesday.
A 75-year-old woman from Gauribidanur town in Chikkaballapur district, who had tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Mecca, died at the state-run Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bengaluru on Wednesday morning.
“The positive patient had several co-morbidities, including diabetes and cardiac issues," Sriramulu tweeted in Kannada. "She has also suffered a hip fracture and was undergoing treatment for the same. The cause of her death will be known only after all her other reports are out.”
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