The total number of COVID-19 patients in Hassan increased to 54 after 21 confirmed cases were reported on Wednesday. So far, it is the highest number of cases reported on a day in the district. Among them, 19 have come from Maharashtra. They were all quarantined soon after reaching the district. The remaining two are a couple, residents of Hassan taluk. A person, who was working in Tamil Nadu, recently returned to his home. He and his wife have tested positive to the infection.
Deputy Commissioner R. Girish told presspersons here on Wednesday that the number of cases had been on the rise as people from other States had been coming to their native places. Among the 21 cases, 16 people were native of Channarayapatna, two were from Holenarsipur and three were native of Hassan taluk. The people who travelled along with them had been quarantined in the respective taluks.
“Those tested positive have been shifted to the designated hospital in Hassan. They are all asymptomatic and stable. After 12 days of their stay in the hospital, samples would be collected from them for laboratory tests. If two tests conducted within 24 hours showed negative to the infection, they would be declared as cured”, the DC said.
The district administration has opened 44 quarantine centres in the district. Asked how did the patient, who had returned from Tamil Nadu, reach his house instead of the quarantine centre, Mr. Girish said the officers were looking into the incident. The patient’s wife had contracted the infection after he reached home.
Mudigere connection
A government medical officer in Mudigere taluk in Chikkamagaluru has tested positive to the infection. Many people in the villages close to Mudigere border visited the primary health centre where he worked in recent days. The DC said so far the officers had identified 15 people who had come in contact with the doctor. They had been quarantined, he added.