Hyd coronavirus victim's Bengaluru flatmate not hospitalised, not on home quarantine

Coronavirus

A viral message doing the rounds claimed that a Bengaluru man had fallen ill with symptoms of coronavirus disease.

Dr Nimeshika Jayachandran

Representation photo

Karnataka state health officials are racing to track down individuals who may have come in contact with a corona positive man who traveled to Hyderabad from Bengaluru. Amidst the rush to do this, a viral message on whatsapp has claimed that another person who the Hyderabad man stayed with while in Bengaluru, had been admitted to a hospital after falling ill. This message, however, is not true.  “Confirmed news... Mail sent to all Intel employees... The coronovirus infected techie was sharing a room with Intel associate from Ecospace.. The Intel resource was taking care of him when he was sick... Now the Intel associate is sick and has gone for coronovirus test.. They have used ecospace cafeteria as well,” reads a message which has been circulating following the confirmation of a positive case of coronavirus on Monday. The affected individual had come to Bengaluru from Dubai, where he had been working with individuals from Hong Kong, and stayed a day before returning to Hyderabad.  Read: Bengaluru apartment where coronavirus patient stayed, under medical surveillance “His roommate has not been found to have any symptoms. For this reason we have not placed him under any home isolation,” stated Dr Sudhakar, a medical officer who has been conducting investigations at the apartment complex in Bengaluru’s Sarjapur area to TNM. Doctors from the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases also confirmed to TNM that the man had been brought to the hospital, but had been sent home after he was found to be asymptomatic. It all started on Monday evening when officials confirmed that a 24-year-old man from Telangana had tested positive for coronavirus disease. His recent travel history showed that he had returned to India from Dubai where he worked with individuals from Hong Kong. He flew back to India from Dubai via Bengaluru on February 20. He stayed in the city for a day, and had gone to work. The next day he travelled via bus to Hyderabad. Following this health department authorities have been racing to track all individuals who may have potentially come in contact with the infected man. 25 individuals have been identified and notified by officials so far in Bengaluru alone. They have been asked to remain at home under self quarantine for a period of  14 days. If anyone shows symptoms during this time, they will be admitted to the hospital and undergo treatment as necessary in an isolation ward. The apartment that the young man stayed in Bengaluru has also been placed under surveillance. “The District surveillance Unit Bangalore Urban has received information regarding Positive COVID 19 case resided in your apartment at Flat no-X. So we are required to conduct Surveillance activities in your apartment for which your cooperation is required,” reads a letter to the Apartment Association president from the District Surveillance Officer, Bengaluru Urban. Screening of passengers from several countries (including Hong Kong, China, Dubai, Italy, Iran, Singapore, and Thailand to name a few) is being done at the Kempegowda International Airport. Those arriving from these countries will be subject to a thermal scanner at the airport and in other manners as deemed required by health officials in the airport. Officials have also confirmed that one more man, who recently returned from Iran, has shown symptoms of having the infection.

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K'taka minister wants man-eater leopard shot. The trouble? There are 4 animals

Wildlife

Four people have been killed by a man-eater leopard in Tumakuru over the last six months.

Girisha

Leopard captured on camera in Tumakuru

After four people were killed by a man-eater leopard in around six months, Tumakuru forest officials have identified as many as 12 leopards in Kunigal, Gubbi and Tumakuru taluks. However, officials find themselves under pressure to pinpoint the man-eater leopard. And this a as a result has delayed a shoot-at-sight order being issued by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Wildlife in Bengaluru to kill the man-eater leopard. There has been mounting pressure on forest officials after a leopard mauled a three-year-old toddler Chandana at Bychanahalli in Tumakuru on Saturday evening. In response to the toddler’s death, Karnataka Forest Minister Anand Singh had said that the government would issue shoot-at-sight orders to kill the leopard.  The PCCF, Wildlife in Bengaluru, however, says it will issue the shoot-at-sight order after assessing the situation. “We suspect four leopards to be one of the man-eaters but no confirmation has been arrived at by us. We have kept tabs on leopard movements in Bychanahalli, Bannikuppe, Manikuppe and adjoining villages placing night vision cameras. The 90-day monitoring has identified 12 different leopards to be roaming in the vicinity,” says a forest official involved in the capture of the leopard. Among the four suspected man-eaters, one of them is a female, a male and two sub-adults but officials are unsure which one has been attacking humans, adds the officer noting that the shooting order has therefore been delayed. “Our first priority is to sedate the leopards suspected to be man-eaters.” Officials had on Saturday night captured one leopard but they are unable to confirm if it’s the same animal that killed the child. An official told Times of India that the leopard’s pugmarks are being examined with the marks found outside the child’s house.    Pointing to the 2018 case in Ballari, where a leopard had mauled a nine-year-old girl and attacked two other persons in Sandur taluk, sources say, “In that case it was a single suspected man-eater leopard and was identified easily. It was shot dead, bringing leopard attacks under control in the district. But in Tumakuru, there are four leopards and we are not sure which one is the man-eater.” In order to capture the leopards, forest officials have kept cages and veterinarian Murali has been readied to dart and sedate the animal upon sighting. According to forest officials, leopards normally come out in the evening between 5.30 pm to 7 pm when grazing livestock animals return from fields. It is when grazing animals are returning that leopards attack. Some leopards feed on stray dogs especially at around 9 pm or 2 am, say officials. Meanwhile, fear grips the residents of Bychanahalli, Bannikuppe and surrounding villages, with residents hesitant to move out of their houses after dark. On Monday night, a resident on a two-wheeler near Bychanahalli village sighted two leopards, forcing villagers to scream to drive away the leopards from the vicinity. While a number of wildlife activists have criticised the shoot-at-sight order, a conservationist, who did not wish to be named, came out in favour of shooting the man-eater leopard in Tumakuru. He argues that villagers may otherwise take the law into their own hands, by resorting to poisoning or killing them in retaliation for the human deaths.  “The situation demands a practical approach to the problem rather than looking at in an emotional way,” he says. The conservationist attributes the rise in man-leopard conflict to the loss of habitat, noting that conservation measures have helped increase the leopard population. “While human population grows, the natural habitat has been shrinking bringing leopards in conflict with humans. While leopards normally prey upon small animals, these big cats are now hunting stray dogs and livestock,” he says.  Kumar, a gram panchayat member of Banikuppe, says “We have requested forest officials to shoot the man-eater leopards. The conflict with leopards has gone up in the region in the last four months.”   

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Bengaluru apartment where coronavirus patient stayed, under medical surveillance

Coronavirus

The person from Hyderabad who tested positive had just returned from Dubai and had rejoined work at his Bengaluru office on February 20.

Soumya Chatterjee

PTI/ Representational Image

A day after a Hyderabad-native working in Bengaluru tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), the District Surveillance Unit of the Health Department has issued a notice to an apartment complex located on Sarjapur Road.  In a letter addressed to the president of the Apartment Association, the District Surveillance Officer, Bengaluru Urban, has said, “The District surveillance Unit Bangalore Urban has received information regarding Positive COVID 19 case resided in your apartment at Flat no-X. So we are required to conduct Surveillance activities in your apartment for which your co-operation is required.” Residents living in the vicinity of the apartment confirmed that Health Department officials visited the complex on Tuesday morning and all residents have been asked to visit the public health centre in case of the slightest symptom. This apartment complex on Sarjapur Road in the eastern periphery of the city is where the professional from Hyderabad had stayed for a day or two before travelling to his hometown. The person from Hyderabad who tested positive had just returned from Dubai and had rejoined work at his Bengaluru office on February 20. He is suspected to have contracted the infection in Dubai while working with colleagues who were from Hong Kong. He had left for Hyderabad on February 22. Dr Prakash,  District Health Officer, Bangalore Urban, told TNM, “We are carrying out surveillance activities in the area. We have identified 90 houses in the vicinity and have already visited 40 households. In each house, we are checking for symptoms like sneezing, sore throat or body ache and others. If they exhibit any of these, then we have to refer them to the hospital. If they have any symptoms, they have been advised to stay in home quarantine for the next 28 days.”   In a press conference addressed by Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu earlier on Tuesday, it was revealed that 25 people have been kept under home quarantine including the Hyderabad man’s colleagues. Read:  25 quarantined in Bengaluru after contact with coronavirus patient, screening boosted The two institutes that are equipped to test for the disease in Bengaluru are Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases and Bangalore Medical College. An email purportedly written by his flatmate was also doing the rounds on Tuesday morning, which said that he has decided to work from home as advised. Meanwhile, Rajiv Gandhi Institute told TNM that the flatmate was asymptomatic and was not admitted, though many viral forwards had claimed so. According to the Karnataka Additional Chief Secretary Health Jawaid Akhtar, all persons who had got in touch with the Hyderabad-native in recent days have been told to remain in isolation for the next 14 days. They have been asked to be tested if they exhibit any symptoms such as fever, cough, cold. Similarly, in Telangana, Health Minister Etela Rajender on Monday said all the co-passengers in the bus through which the infected person travelled to Hyderabad will be traced and kept in quarantine.

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After record 42-medal haul, Kambala jockey Srinivas Gowda set to rest for one month

Sport

When Srinivas was asked about the invitation by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to take part in athletics training, he said that he will take up the offer only after resting for a month.

TNM Staff

With only one more Kambala event left in the current season, jockey Srinivas Gowda has won 42 medals in the current season, a record in the history of Kambala.  Srinivas, by winning four medals in the Kambala held at Venoor recently taking his medal tally to 35, had already broken the record set by Hukkeri Shetty who had earlier won 32 medals in a season. Later, at Paivalike Kambala in Kerala’s Kasaragod district, he bagged four medals. On Sunday, Gowda won three more medals at the Vijaya-Vikrama Kambala held at Uppinangady in Dakshina Kannada district. The final Kambala of the season is slated to be held at Belthangady on March 7. When Srinivas was asked about the invitation by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to take part in athletics training, he said that he will take up the offer only after resting for a month. "For one month, I want to rest because the Kambala season was long and tiring. After the rest, I plan to train with coaches in Alvas college in Moodabidri before working with coaches affiliated to SAI in Bengaluru," Srinivas Gowda told TNM.  The Vijaya-Vikrama Kambala also created a new record for the time taken for its completion which was around 35 hours. The Kambala, that began at 10 am on Saturday, lasted till about 9 pm on Sunday and saw 142 pairs of buffaloes participate in it.  Kambala Samiti is set to streamline the rules and procedures in Kambala events as per the directions of the state government, which includes proper handling of the animals. The Samiti also wants all Kambalas to be completed within a 24-hour duration, Samiti member Rajiv Shetty Edthur said. Srinivas shot to fame for a record-breaking performance in a Kambala race in Aikala village of Dakshina Kannada on February 1. According to referees at the event, Srinivas ran 142.50 metres in 13.62 seconds. The record was reportedly eclipsed by Nishant Shetty, another Kambala jockey who ran  143 m in 13.68 seconds. Kambala is the traditional buffalo racing sport held in coastal districts of Karnataka. The races are held on slushy paddy fields in which a pair of buffaloes, sometimes tied to a plough, run in parallel tracks with a farmer (jockey) controlling them. With inputs from PTI

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'You don't want to go to war with a president'

How Dr. Anthony Fauci is navigating the coronavirus outbreak in the Trump era.

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25 quarantined in Bengaluru after contact with coronavirus patient, screening boosted

Health

It was announced that a 24-year-old Hyderabad man who tested positive for COVID-2019 was in Bengaluru days before getting sick.

Dr Nimeshika Jayachandran

The Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister B Sriramulu on Tuesday revealed that health officials in the state intensified screening and safety measures after it was announced that a 24-year-old Hyderabad man who tested positive for COVID-2019 was in Bengaluru days before getting sick. Speaking to reporters in the Vidhana Soudha after an emergency meeting convened in Bengaluru, Sriramulu said that the 24-year-old man works with a software company and that he worked for a day in Bengaluru on February 20 before travelling to Hyderabad by bus. Twenty-five people who came in contact with the patient have been isolated in Bengaluru.  "We received information about this at 5 pm yesterday. We have collected a list of passengers with him on the flight from Dubai and in the bus to Hyderabad. We have collected around 50-60% of the contacts," said Sriramulu.  Health officials have begun contact tracing of those who may have come in touch with the man and are notifying them to stay at home under isolation for a period of 14 days. "He started showing symptoms when he reached Hyderabad. The contacts are being informed about the situation. At the moment, we would not like to divulge the name of the person," Sriramulu added. 'Contact tracing' is monitoring of people In close contact with someone who is infected with a virus, in this case the COVID-2019.  It all started on Monday evening when officials from the union health ministry announced that 2 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in New Delhi and Telangana. It was later revealed that the man from Hyderabad who had contracted the virus had travelled from Bengaluru just days before. Sriramulu said that 25 people from the contact list were screened and isolated in their homes. This includes the colleagues of the techie. They will be shifted to a hospital if they begin to develop symptoms. They will be subjected to 14 days of incubation and 14 days of isolation. Most of the samples tested so far among the people who were in contact with the Hyderabad software engineer have come back negative, Sriramulu said. He also revealed that the man did not show symptoms when he was screened at the airport in Bengaluru upon his arrival from Dubai. Over 40,000 passengers have been screened in Bengaluru ever since processes were put in place on January 20.  Sriramulu stated that separate wards will be set up in hospitals in all districts of Karnataka. Meanwhile, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) issued a circular to clean surfaces on its buses including door handles and armrests using disinfectants.

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Yediyurappa’s son Vijayendra focuses on Old Mysuru region, aims to poach other leaders

Politics

The BJP is also planning to convince Congress and JD(S) cadre in the southern region, sources say.

Theja Ram

The BJP in Karnataka came to power in July 2019 after a massive poaching operation of legislators from the Congress and JD(S). Although the party has achieved a simple majority after the December 9, 2019 bye-elections, BJP is now looking at solidifying its base.  The focus is primarily on southern Karnataka -- a region that has remained out of the party’s reach. Sources say that Chief Minister (CM) BS Yediyurappa’s son Vijayendra Yeddyurappa has been put in charge of consolidating vote banks in the Old Mysuru region in the south and the Chief Minister’s son is taking a familiar route to achieve this -- poach JD(S) and Congress legislators from the Old Mysuru region.  One of the JD(S) legislators the BJP has been eyeing since the rebellion began in the coalition government is GT Devegowda, the Chamundeshwari MLA. A close associate of BJP Members of Parliament (MPs) V Srinivas Prasad and Pratap Simha, GT Devegowda has been very vocal about his displeasure with JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda and his family members, especially former CM HD Kumarasamy. Sources say that the BJP is planning to bring in GT Devegowda into its fold in the upcoming months.  Vijayendra Yeddyurappa with Chamundeshwari JD(S) MLA GT Devegowda “Vijayendra and a few other leaders, who are in charge of building the party’s base in Old Mysuru, are in talks with five JD(S) MLAs and four MLAs from Congress. Vijayendra is trying to bring them into the BJP. This operation is not being done in a hurry like the one before. It may take some time,” a BJP leader said. The BJP is also planning to convince Congress and JD(S) cadre in the southern region, sources say. “In many places the Congress party workers are not motivated and the lack of morale is helping us in bringing them to the BJP and getting them to work for the party instead. At the grassroots level, the local BJP leaders are in talks with several gram panchayat leaders from Congress and JD(S) as well,” the source added.  Vijayendra in a meeting with Amith Shah and JP Nadda ahead of the cabinet expansion in Karnataka BJP insiders say that Vijayendra is being mentored by his father to take over his role in the future. Vijayendra was the only BJP leader who managed to get a BJP candidate elected in the Mandya region, a source close to Yediyurappa said. “When Narayana Gowda won the December 9 bye-polls, it was also because the Congress and JD(S) did not have strong candidates against him. This helped Vijayendra convince members of the Kuruba and Vokkaliga communities to vote for Narayana Gowda in the KR Pete bye-polls. Young leaders were not cultivated in the Congress and JD(S) over the last two decades. Since there is lack of leadership, the only option is to lure the top Congress and JD(S) leaders in the Old Mysuru region,” the BJP leader said.         

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