As many as 18 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Karnataka on Friday. With this the total number of cases in Karnataka stands at 463.
Five of the patients who tested positive were those who were housed in the jail in Ramanagaram after being arrested for inciting violence in Padarayanapura on April 20, 2020. Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had criticised the government’s decision to shift those arrested to Ramanagaram which is a green zone and has no COVID-19 cases. All five have now been shifted to a designated hospital in Bengaluru.
The remaining 116 people who were in the jail and arrested in connection with the Padarayanapura incident are being shifted to a quarantine facility in Bengaluru.
Anitha Kumaraswamy, the Ramanagarm legislator and wife of former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, also vented her ire at the State government decision to shift accused in Padarayanapura violence to Ramanagaram jail. In a statement on Friday, she threatened to launch a stir if persons who are COVID-19 positive are not removed from Ramanagaram jail immediately. She accused Deputy Chief Minister and Ramanagaram in-charge minister C N Ashwath Narayan of not behaving responsibly.
Of the 18 new cases reported in the State, 11 are from Bengaluru. Five cases are linked to the patient who was tested positive in the Hogasandra ward in the city. The first patient, a 54-year-old migrant labourer was tested positive on Wednesday and nine of them were from the same locality and primary contacts.
In addition to this, two cases each have been reported in Belagavi and Bagalkote. One case each has been reported in Tumakuru, Chikkaballapur and Vijayapura.