Only God can save us: Karnataka Health Minister amid COVID-19 surge

Bengaluru, July 16: Karnataka Health minister B Sriramulu, on Wednesday said on a note of despair over the surge of cases, "only God can save us".

Sriramulu, who heads the state's Covid-19 task force, appeared to be responding to criticism about the state's handling of the pandemic, saying stopping the spread was "not in anybody's hands".

The southern state's caseload is approaching 50,000 while the number of deaths is past 900.

In a recent time, Karnataka has reported the third-highest spike.

Speaking to reporters in Chitradurga district, his constituency, the minister said, "Only God can save us from Coronavirus and we have to bring in caution on our own."

"Worldwide the number of Corona cases is increasing. All of us should be alert. Cases in the state I am sure one hundred per cent, will only go up in the next two months," he added.

The B S Yediyurappa-led state government has imposed a week-long lockdown in its capital Bengaluru to contain the spread of the virus as the metro city leads the COVID spike in the state.

The state which was earlier lauded for keeping a check on the rise in cases, has recently seen the situation rapidly slip out of its grip.

The state has crossed Gujarat in the case of the affected people by the virus.

Karnataka now has over 47,000 cases following more than 900 death. Bengaluru has so far reported 20,969 COVID-19 positive cases of which 15,599 are active.