Karnataka minister urges COVID-19 patients to keep their phones on for tracing

Minister R Ashoka appealed to people not to avoid calls from authorities and to take the free medication provided by the government.
R Ashoka
R Ashoka
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Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka speculated on Wednesday that thousands of people who have tested positive for coronavirus may be currently untraceable “because they have switched their phones off.” He urged people to keep their phones on so that officials could contact them with information from the government. 

“I feel at least 2,000 to 3,000 (COVID-infected) people have switched off their phones and left their homes. We don't know where they have gone. In the midst of this situation we are already in, we are sending policemen to try and track them but we are not able to find them. COVID-19 is increasing because of this,” said R Ashoka.

He also stated, “These very people who switch off their phones, when things turn critical, turn on their phones and roam around the city trying to find a bed. Instead, if you just keep your phone on and take the free medicines that are given by the government such as paracetamol, 90% of the time the situations can be controlled right there. I request everyone to not switch off their phones when you test COVID-19 positive.” 

Paracetamol is not advised as a treatment for COVID-19. However, public health experts recommend paracetamol for patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19, fever.

On Tuesday night, Karnataka went into a 14-day lockdown to control the massive surge in the number of COVID-19 cases across the state. Karnataka had reported 31,830 and 39,047 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. The death toll also increased from 180 to 229 on Wednesday. The positivity rate went up from 18.71% to 22.70%. Test Positivity Rate is the percentage of tests that turn positive for a virus for every 100 people tested.

Elsewhere, Bengaluru’s neighboring districts reported a high number of cases. Kolar (1194), Hassan (1001), and Tumakuru (1174) recorded over 1000 cases on Wednesday. Mysuru (1759) and Ballari (1106) also recorded a surge. Mandya (935), Kalaburagi (901), Bengaluru Rural (732) Dakshina Kannada, Udupi (664 each), Dharwad (654) followed in numbers. 

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