A 42-year-old person from Hallibailu village in Tirthahalli taluk who had returned from Mumbai recently tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.
With this, the total number of positive cases in the district has risen to nine. He had come to Hallibailu on May 7 in an unauthorised manner. The local Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) had alerted the Department of Health and Family Welfare on his arrival on May 12 following which was immediately sent to institutional quarantine facility.
On Friday, his swab samples tested positive for COVID-19 following which he was shifted to the designated hospital in Shivamogga city. As many as 12 persons including six of his family members identified as his primary contacts have been quarantined. Their throat and nasal samples have been sent to the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory on the campus of Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences for tests and the results are awaited.
Meanwhile, Tirthahalli taluk administration has considered Hallibailu village as a containment zone. The entry of outsiders to the village has been barred. The department had commenced door-to-door survey in Hallibailu and nearby Bheemanakatte, Meenugunda and Mulubagilu villages to identify persons with symptoms of COVID-19. The taluk administration has also made arrangement for on-demand delivery of ration and other essential goods to the households in the containment zone.