42,470 COVID-19 cases, 26 deaths in Karnataka
Bengaluru, Jan 22: Karnataka on Saturday reported a substantial dip in its COVID-19 upsurge with 42,470 fresh infections, which was about 5,500 cases less than Friday's tally, the health department said.
However, the fatalities increased from 22 on Friday to 26 today, taking the death toll due to 38,563, the health department said.
The state had recorded 48,049 fresh infections on Friday.
In its bulletin, the department said 35,140 people were discharged, pushing the total number of recoveries to 30,98,432. Active cases stood at 3,30,447.
The dip in cases was due to reduction in infections in Bengaluru urban to 17,266 from 29,068 on Friday.
Other districts reported fresh cases including 4,601 in Mysuru, 3,417 in Tumakuru, 2,679 in Hassan, 1,822 in Mandya, 1,417 in Kolar and 958 in Bengaluru Rural district.
There were zero fatalities in 17 districts.
The positivity and case fatality rates for the day were at 19.33 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively.
A total of 2,19,699 samples were tested in the state including 1,70,637 RT-PCR tests on Saturday, taking the cumulative number of specimens examined to 6.33 crore.
There were 1,79,816 inoculations done, taking the total vaccinations so far to 9.31 crore, the department said.
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WHO declares global health emergency over Ebola outbreak in Congo, Uganda
Abuja (Nigeria) (AP): WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the Ebola disease outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths.
In a post on X, the World Health Organisation said the outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, and advised against the closure of international borders.
Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.
Health authorities have confirmed the current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines. Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time the Bundibugyo virus has been reported.
Congo accounts for all except two of the cases, both of which were reported in neighbouring Uganda, the WHO said.
Officials first reported the spread of the disease in Congo's eastern province of Ituri, close to Uganda and South Sudan, on Friday. On Saturday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths.
“There are significant uncertainties regarding the true number of infected persons and geographic spread associated with this event at the present time. In addition, there is limited understanding of the epidemiological links with known or suspected cases,” Tedros said.
Uganda on Saturday confirmed one case it said was imported from Congo, and said the patient died at a hospital in Uganda's capital, Kampala, and the WHO said that a second case has been reported in Kampala. The two cases had no apparent links to each other, and both patients had travelled from Congo, it added.
The Bundibugyo virus was first detected in Uganda's Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak that infected 149 people and killed 37 people. The second time was in 2012 in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported.
WHO's emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. However, the global response to previous declarations has been mixed.
In 2024, when the WHO declared mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency, experts at the time said it did little to get supplies like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to affected countries quickly.
