Karnataka: Coastal districts record 279 fresh cases, eight deaths

MANGALURU: Coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi recorded 279 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Monday. While Dakshina Kannada district recorded 153 cases to see its total positive cases go up to 6,168, Udupi accounted for the remaining 126 that took the district’s tally to 4,800. While 124 patients were discharged in DK on Monday, the district has 3,138 active cases.
Covid-19 related fatalities continued unabated in the two districts with eight deaths reported in DK and Udupi on Monday. While seven died in DK, Udupi reported one death. With this, the death tally of DK increased to 176 and 36 in Udupi. While 2,812 patients were discharged in Udupi so far, the district has 1,952 active cases.
Out of 153 positive cases in Dakshina Kannada, 119 were reported in Mangaluru taluk. Meanwhile, Bantwal reported 11 cases, Belthangady six, Puttur four, one from Sullia and 12 from other districts.
Risky celebration
Meanwhile, in a related development, Dakshina Kannada Mahila Congress president Shalet Pinto, who was also part of KPCC chief DK Shivakumar’s programme on Friday, held a ‘raksha bandhan’ celebration at District Congress Committee office on Monday violating the self-quarantine norm.
Shalet was sitting next to former MLC Ivan D’Souza, who has tested positive, during a press conference addressed by Shivakumar at the Congress office on Friday and she was also part of other party programmes of KPCC chief. D’Souza and his wife had tested positive for coronavirus and the former MLC had validated the same in a Facebook post on Saturday.
The health department in Dakshina Kannada district has already asked Congress leaders, who participated in DK Shivakumar’s programme and also journalists who covered the press conference to remain in home quarantine after D’Souza tested positive for Covid-19. However, Shalet held a programme by tying a rakhi to District Youth Congress president Mithun Rai on Monday.
District health and family welfare officer Dr Ramachandra Bairy said as per established protocols, any person who has been in contact with a person testing positive for the virus for more than 15-minutes and without a mask will be deemed primary contact.