COVID-19: Telangana, Karnataka step up precautionary measures

The Telangana and Karnataka governments on Tuesday reviewed their Coronavirus (COVID-19) preparedness after a Bengaluru-based man who travelled to Secunderabad tested positive for the infection, making him the fourth confirmed case from south India. The Andhra Pradesh government said there was no impact of the deadly virus in the state but the health machinery was on full alert to handle the situation.

Earlier, three positive cases were reported from Kerala but all of them were discharged later from hospitals on recovery. Meanwhile, a 25-year-old man, who returned to Kerala from Malaysia on Monday, is under observation at the isolation ward of a government medical college hospital in Ernakulam district.

Both Karnataka and Telangana declared that the health condition of the 24-year-old Bengaluru-based software professional had improved and he was stable, even as they stepped up efforts to track and bring people associated with him, including air passengers, under observation. The affected techie has been admitted to an isolation ward in the state-run Gandhi hospital in Hyderabad and is found to have come in contact with 88 people.

He was in Dubai last month and worked with people from Hong Kong where he is suspected to have contracted the virus. From Dubai, he had returned to Bengaluru before travelling to Hyderabad in a bus.

Budget carrier IndiGo said four of its crew members who were with the virus-infected passenger on a February 20 Dubai-Bengaluru flight were under observation at home since Monday. The condition of the man, who tested positive for COVID-19 in Hyderabad, is stable and the process of tracking people he came in contact with was on, Telangana Health Minister E Rajender said.

"The health condition of the man, who works in Bengaluru as a software professional, has in fact shown improvement since Monday," he said after attending a meeting of a cabinet sub-committee which discussed measures to be taken to prevent the spread of the virus. Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu convened a meeting of top officials of his department in Bengaluru following information that the affected person had travelled from the city.

A Karnataka Health department official said all the passengers of the bus he had travelled in and his colleagues have been contacted and were under house-quarantine. Passengers who were with him on the flight from Dubai were also being contacted, even as people who worked with the techie have been asked to work from home.

"I appeal to people not to fear or panic. The government, the health and family welfare department and medical education department have taken all precautionary measures," Sriramulu told reporters in Bengaluru. "We have taken precautionary measures at sea ports, airports and also conducting blood and required tests on people and tourists coming from other places," he said.

The software engineer had been to Dubai last month on an official visit, where he is suspected to have contracted the virus. According to information received, the IT employee working in Bengaluru had gone to Dubai on February 16, Sriramulu said.

On his return at the airport here, he tested negative for COVID-19, the minister said. He then travelled to Hyderabad after staying in Bengaluru for a couple of days. He had developed fever thereafter, contacted doctors there and tested postive for the infection, Sriramulu said.

A total of 23 people who travelled with him and his roommates have been screened and tests are being conducted as a precautionary measure, sources said. There were 92 flats in the apartment in which he was staying and tests and precautionary measures are being taken regarding all of them, the minister added.

Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said the firm where the virus-affected techie is employed has been informed and it will ask their employees to work from home. In Hyderabad, Health Minister Rajender said the family members of the virus-infected patient were doing fine.

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister A K K Srinivas, who is handling the health portfolio, said blood samples of 11 people were sent for examination in recent days to Pune but not one tested positive. "More than 263 passengers, who came (by flight) from various foreign countries over the past few days, were screened for the deadly virus," the minister said.

Of the 263, 50 were kept under home quarantine while two were admitted to hospital. Observation of the rest was completed and they were found to be normal, he added.

Referring to reports that 17 passengers from Andhra Pradesh travelled with the virus-hit software professional from Bengaluru to Hyderabad, the deputy chief minister said they were trying to get the details. "If any such passenger is found, we are ready to conduct necessary medical tests. A state-level call centre has also been opened in Vijayawada for assistance and advice on Covid-19," he said.

Earlier, Kerala had reported three confirmed cases of the virus but all of them were discharged from hospitals last month following recovery..