Udupi records third Covid-19 death, 53 new cases on coast

MANGALURU/UDUPI: An SSLC student, two inter-district bus crew members and a cloth store merchant were among 9 people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Udupi on Tuesday.
On a day that 53 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in erstwhile undivided Dakshina Kannada district, Udupi also saw its third fatality due to the pandemic, with a 48-year-old liver cirrhosis patient who had returned from Mumbai, succumbing to the disease, and his swab testing positive for the virus after he had passed away.
Udupi deputy commissioner G Jagadeesha said the SSLC student from Kundapur, a primary contact, had appeared for three papers.
She has been asked to appear for the remaining papers in the supplementary examinations scheduled in August. Drivers of a bus operating between Kundapur and Bengaluru tested positive in a worrisome development, he said.
The merchant’s son who travelled to Bengaluru too will be tested for the novel coronavirus.
The 48-year-old man who had returned from Mumbai had undergone treatment for cirrhosis in Mumbai, and had not disclosed his medical condition to local revenue or health authorities, the DC said, adding since the patient had come from a high risk state, his swab was tested as a matter of routine, and the report confirmed him to be positive. The victim was laid to rest as per protocol. Udupi presently has 136 active cases and 1,067 patients have been discharged.
A steady rise in influenza like illness (ILI) – 9 on Tuesday, 3 severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), two international travellers (Saudi Arabia), one inter-state traveller, 3 inter-district travellers and 21 primary contacts, were among the 44 who tested positive in Dakshina Kannada, said DC Sindhu B Rupesh. How five of these patients contracted the disease is being traced, she said, adding health authorities discharged 17 patients on Tuesday.
The steady increase in Covid-19 cases in Dakshina Kannada has seen public offices going off limits for the public, including Mangaluru City Corporation, Lady Goschen Hospital and the Mangaluru taluk panchayat.
District health and family welfare officer Ramachandra Bairy appealed to the people to seek medical help forthwith, if they have persisting symptoms of the disease. Early diagnosis will result in early treatment and full recovery, Dr Bairy said.