5 discharged in DK, equal number test positive in DK, Udupi

Mangaluru/Udupi: Two families – one each in Kasba village in Bantwal and Boloor in MCC limits—heaved a big sigh of relief on Saturday, when five of their family members were discharged from Wenlock Hospital. While the duo from Boloor are relatives of P-536, the district’s fourth patient who succumbed to Covid-19, the trio from Kasba are relatives of P-390, the first person to succumb to Covid-19 in the district on April 19.
The patients designated P-658 and P-675 are the son-in-law and daughter of P-536, respectively. Incidentally, P-579, the husband of P-536, and her grand-daughter (P-674) were discharged earlier this week. The family was infected by the novel coronavirus after they took care of an ailing P-536 who suffered from TB meningitis. The patient had undergone treatment at First Neuro Hospital in Padil, which was the epicentre of a cluster outbreak, and a declared a supervised isolation centre.
The patients designated P-777, P-778 and P-779 from Kasba village were also discharged, and they are all primary or secondary contacts of P-390. Residing in the same neighbourhood as P-390, the trio are all contacts of P-578, who is related to P-390. In a relief to people from Kasba village, deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh on Friday partially modified the containment zone, shrinking the area, after people there protested their total and forced isolation from ther rest of the world since April 19.
Dakshina Kannada district recorded three positive Covid-19 cases on Saturday, including that of P-1783, who committed suicide at a quarantine centre at Moodbidri on Thursday. He tested positive for the disease after his suicide. Others to test positive are P-1810, a 41-year-old woman who was diagnosed with an influenza-like Illness. The other person who tested positive is a 30-year-old man (P-1811), who returned from Maharashtra.
In neighbouring Udupi, while a 34-year woman (P-1931), who returned from Maharashtra, tested positive for Covid-19, the authorities have initiated contact tracing to find the source of infection of two other men – one aged 40 and another aged 49—who were designated P-1940 and P-1941, respectively, in the state bulletin. With this, while Dakshina Kannada district is left with 34 active cases, Udupi which was one a declared green zone, has 49 active cases.
Quarantine facilities stretched to limits
Udupi deputy commissioner G Jagadeesha said lack of local testing facilities has stretched the district’s quarantine facilities to their limits, as Udupi has received around 8,010 people from various states, who have been placed under institutional quarantine. As per a government directive, swab samples must be taken twice in 14 days and tested, and only then can the returnees be sent home, if they test negative. However, non-availability of laboratories has prolonged their quarantine period, he said.
To date, 3,600 swab samples have been sent to Yenepoya Medical College at Deralakatte, SIMS, Shivamogga and Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru. Recently, KMC Manipal too has started to test samples. Within 15 days, equipment worth Rs 2 crore will be brought to the district hospital to set up a testing lab, he said. The district will not permit any fresh batch of people to return, till such time that the present lot in quarantine are sent home, he said.