Holding a press conference, Karnataka’s medical education minister Dr. Sudhakar confirmed that the state has one positive tested patient for COVID-19. This takes the nationwide tally to 45. Following this development, all the kindergarten and primary schools have been shut across urban and rural Bengaluru.
The patient is a Bengaluru based software engineer who had a travel history to the United States. The software engineer, aged 40, had traveled from Austin, Texas through New York and Dubai before finally landing in Bengaluru on March 1st. With this, Karnataka has joined the list of states like Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the southern part of the country that has tested positive for the deadly virus.
#COVID19india #bengaluru Education Minister Suresh Kumar @nimmasuresh speaks on holiday announced and confusion about exams. All blr schools primary sections suspended. @XpressBengaluru @santwana99 @WHO @DHFWKA @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/Jl07EmYLOw
— Chetana Belagere (@chetanabelagere) March 9, 2020
Soon after the patient was tested positive, intense tracking is being carried out with already 2,666 possible primary and secondary contacts in observation. The driver and three members of the engineer’s family have been kept in isolation. One of his colleagues who showed early symptoms has been admitted to the hospital.
As a precautionary measure, the state administration in Karnataka has ordered definite closure of pre-primary and kindergarten schools in both urban and rural Bengaluru. Dr. Sudhakar further clarified that classes till the fifth standard will remain closed until further orders.
As the news broke out on Monday, several schools across the city sent the students back and some continued to take classes.
The state is taking no chances as it has further strengthened surveillance in airports and other centers to contain the spread of the virus. As of 9th March, the state has put 982 people under observation out of which 266 have completed 28 days of observation and over 700 are kept under home quarantine. Over 90,000 passengers have been screened at airports across the state. Out of 432 samples sent for testing, 364 turned out to be negative and the results of the rest are awaited.
