Two weeks since the Karnataka government announced considerable lockdown relaxations starting July 4 in Bengaluru and major parts of the state, daily COVID-19 cases, and other key indices continue to improve. According to the BBMP War Room data, the week-on-week improvements seen over the last few weeks have continued even in the first two weeks of the unlock phase.
In the seven-day-period ending July 17, Bengaluru has registered 2,811 cases and 60 deaths compared to 3,717 cases and 68 deaths in the week ending July 10. Similarly, the positivity rate has also improved from 0.86% to 0.67% on a week-on-week basis as has the number of persons admitted in hospitals. While the number of patients needing hospital admission was 195 in the week ending July 17, the same was 237 in the week ending July 10. It is to be noted that these numbers do not account for hospital admissions in private institutes under private quota. While all key COVID-19 figures have seen steady improvement, case fatality rate has worsened for the first time in at least seven weeks. The CFR for the week ending July 17 is 2.13% compared to 1.83%, the CFR for the week ending July 10.
TNM had reported on July 12, how the first week of unlocking too encouragingly did not see a sudden rise of cases or deaths. However, medical experts and officials had warned COVID-appropriate behavior like physical distancing and wearing masks along with vaccination was key in minimizing the impact of the impending third wave. In another negative development, the vaccination rate has also continued to drop comparatively. The number of doses administered daily on average in Bengaluru city including Bangalore Urban district limits was 64,942 for the 10 day period ending July 17. The same was 77,618 for the 10 day period ending July 7.
It may be recalled that the Karnataka government had imposed a full lockdown starting April 28 in wake of the devastating second wave of infections. Minor relaxations were allowed starting June 14 and it was only starting July 4 that for the first time free movement was allowed between 5 am-9pm during the weekend curfew remained. The weekend curfew was lifted starting July 10 and starting July 19 theaters too will be allowed to open at 50% capacity.