Bengaluru, Jun 28 (IANS): Amid the pandemic's second wave, the Karnataka government has recruited an additional 2,050 doctors to treat Covid patients in rural areas, said state Health Minister K. Sudhakar on Monday.
"We have appointed 2,050 doctors, who are in addition to 1,750 doctors recruited in May to treat Covid patients in government hospitals in rural areas across the state," Sudhakar told reporters here.
As serving in rural areas for the first two years of service is compulsory for all new doctors, Sudhakar said the new recruits would also be deployed in district hospitals and primary health centres (PHCs) in all villages to contain the virus spread and prepare them for battling the possible Covid third wave.
"Of the 2,050 doctors hired, 1,001 will work in 18 state-run hospitals, 666 at taluk hospitals and PHCs in villages across the state," said Sudhakar, a medical doctor by profession.
Of the remaining doctors, 348 will be deputed for the National Health Mission, 90 at community health centres (CHCs) and 3 in nepro-urology units.
"As part of ramping up the state's healthcare infrastructure, nearly 4,000 doctors have been directly recruited in a month, which is a record in terms of numbers and time taken to appoint them," asserted Sudhakar.
With the Covid second wave flattening, the minister said the state's recovery rate was 95 per cent and positivity rate 2.62 per cent except in 5 districts (Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Kodagu and Mysuru) where it is above 5 per cent.
"With 1.75 lakh tests daily, Karnataka ranks third in testing after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, as around 3.4 crore people, which is 50 per cent of the state's population, have been tested since mid-March 2020 when the pandemic broke out in the country," reiterated Sudhakar.
Case fatality rate has also reduced to below 2.5 per cent, with no deaths reported in 11 of the 30 districts across the state since a week.
"Of 3,332 cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) reported in the state since May, 1,600 of them were operated so far, 387 recovered and 262 died and the rest are under treatment in state-run and private hospitals," added Sudhakar.