Dakshina Kannada minister directs district authorities to submit report on patient-0 for Covid-19

MANGALURU: Dakshina Kannada district minister Kota Shrinivas Poojari directed district health authorities to trace patient 0 for Covid-19 cases in the district, including at First Neuro Hospital and submit a report to the government. The directive comes in wake of three fresh cases being reported in the district, and all these can be traced to patients who either had undergone treatment at the hospital or are primary or secondary contacts of patients there.
Directing deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh and DHO Ramachandra Bairy to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the issue, he instructed them to prepare the report with help of high level medical team. “It is imperative to put to rest doubts in minds of people as to the source of the outbreak in the district,” the minister said. Incidentally, a six-member team under Dr Bairy is already on the job and is drawing closer to the answer.
Dr Bairy said the team has made significant progress in detecting ‘P-0’ for the hospital, now a supervised isolation centre. The process of forward and backward tracing of all patients treated and discharged from the hospital has been undertaken, he said adding answers will be known once the 12th day reports of all stakeholders at the hospital numbering 210 including the doctors, patients and their attendants and hospital staff is received.
Last day for free travel
Administration has thus far sent more than 11000 labourers to their home districts deploying 433 buses for the buses. May 7 will be last day that this free service will be offered, he said advising all migrant labourers to go to KSRTC bus station at Bejai for trip back home. The administration has also decided to allow all clothe stores to function from May 7 on condition that trials will be not be permitted and social distancing is maintained at the store.