Even as Karnataka State’s Health Department claims that the COVID-19 situation in the state is under control, the spike in the number of cases refuses to slow down. With each passing a day, a new cluster originates.
On Wednesday, a delivery boy in the city of Bengaluru tested positive for the novel coronavirus which has now become a headache for the officials. The officials in the health department believe that the delivery boy can be a ‘superspreader’ given his nature of work that puts him in contact with multiple households and a large number of people.
Out of the 19 positive cases reported in the state of Karnataka on Wednesday, two of them were from Bengaluru. Out of the two people tested positive in the city, one of them is the 25-year-old delivery boy from Mangammanapalya. The other positive case is his mother. The source of infection for both the patients is the father of the 25-year old who is a worker who suffered from Influenza-like illness (ILI) and was in contact with a COVID-19 positive friend from the Hongasandra cluster.
Immediately when the old man was tested positive for COVID-19, the health officials collected samples from his family and sent them for testing. As it was feared, both his son and wife were tested positive for the deadly virus. However, his daughter turned out to be negative.
Officials’ nightmare as contact tracing begins
In a daunting task for the health officials, they have now begun to prepare the list of places and houses visited by the delivery boy and the people with whom he came in contact with while he delivered food. Looking at the severity of the situation, the health officials are contemplating issuing a public notice giving out the information of the delivery boy and asking those who came in contact with him to undergo self-quarantine or report to the nearest health center.
Another cluster that is causing worry for the officials is from Badami. A pregnant woman was tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday and has alone infected 12 other people in the region of Bagalkot. The number of confirmed cases in the district of Bagalkot has risen to 48.
Source: Deccan Chronicle
