3,000 Covid patients go missing in Bengaluru, minister asks them to switch on phones, serious crisis in Karnataka

BENGALURU: A very large number of Covid-19 positive patients are missing from Karnataka's Bengaluru, Vice-Chairman of Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority and state minister R Ashok said. Authorities are trying to trace the missing patients with the help of the police.

Ashok requested people not to switch off their mobiles if they test positive. He added that between 2,000-3,000 people have turned off their phones and left their homes, while cops are tracing them.

"We are trying to trace missing Covid19 patients, even using the cops to do so, I request people who turn positive to not switch off their phones or leave their home. The ones turning up at ICU are such people who turn on their phones when their condition worsens and they land up suddenly looking for hospital beds. So I request you not to do that, it takes over 10 days to just track you," he urged.

The minister also assured that around 90 per cent patients recover if they follow the procedure.

"The government is providing free medications for those in home isolation. As many as 90 per cent of patients will recover if they just follow procedure, but they instead switch off phones and land up at ICUs when their condition is critical. There are 2,000-3,000 such cases where they have turned off phones and left their homes, cops are tracing them but are struggling I plead with not do to do that."

Karnataka reported a super spike in the number of coronavirus cases with nearly 40,000 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Out of these, about 29,000 cases were in the capital city of Bengaluru alone. A total of 229 deaths have been reported in the state in the last 24 hours.