Karnataka: Techie flouts rule to get haircut, now 11 isolated in Kolar

KOLAR: A 25-year-old techie, who broke home quarantine rules by stepping out for a haircut on Sunday morning – just hours before his throat swab sample tested positive for Covid-19 – has sent authorities scrambling to trace his contacts in Bangarpet, Kolar district.
By Monday, authorities have quarantined his parents, niece, the hairdresser and 10 other customers, Dr Vijayakumari, taluk health officer, confirmed. She said throat swab samples of all have been sent for testing.
The techie had returned from Malaysia on May 22 and was sent to institutional quarantine on arrival in Bengaluru. His throat swab samples were collected on May 27, but he was allowed to go home where, rules state, he was to remain in quarantine for a mandatory seven-day period, even as his test results were awaited.
The man was in his Bangarpet home when his results came through on Sunday evening. District authorities immediately sent him to a designated Covid-19 hospital in Kolar and swung into action to identify his contacts. The man’s three family members were sent to an isolation hospital in the town on Sunday evening.
On Sunday night and Monday morning, taluk officials and healthcare workers using a public address system, went around Bangarpet asking all those who had visited the hairdresser on Sunday to get in touch with officials. The hairdresser and 10 customers who had visited on Sunday have been quarantined.
Though SOP protocol requires district authorities to be kept in the loop whenever a foreign returnee is sent to home quarantine, Kolar district authorities were kept in the dark about the Bangarpet man’s presence in their jurisdiction till Sunday evening when the results were announced, officials said.
The Kolar district surveillance unit was informed of the man’s positive results. “Had state authorities informed us earlier about his arrival, taluk authorities would have monitored him and ensured he adhered to quarantine norms,” said a doctor attached to the surveillance unit.