Amid sharp surge in Covid-19 cases, Yediyurappa tests positive

Bengaluru Around eight months after he recovered from Covid-19 in August last year, Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa once again tested positive for the infection on Friday

Bengaluru Around eight months after he recovered from Covid-19 in August last year, Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa once again tested positive for the infection on Friday.

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The infection was first detected through a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), few hours after the CM held an emergency meeting with senior ministers and officials to discuss the strategy to contain the surge of the pandemic in the state. It was later confirmed by an RT-PCR test.

The development comes two days after the CM campaigned in Belagavi for bypolls, raising concerns about the number of people he might have come in contact with during his rallies.

Video clips of the rallies seen by Hindustan Times showed Yediyurappa surrounded by hundreds of people in Belagavi, one of the three constituencies that go to bypolls on Saturday.

“Upon having mild fever, today I got tested for Covid-19 and my report has come out positive. Although I am doing fine, I am being hospitalised based on the advice of doctors. I request all those who have come in my contact recently to be observant and exercise self-quarantine,” Yediyurappa posted from his personal Twitter handle.

The CM has been admitted to Manipal Hospital, a private medical facility in Bengaluru, which treated him the last time he contracted the disease as well.

Meanwhile, the active case count in Karnataka breached the six-figure mark on Friday and stood at 107315 after the state reported 14,859 new infections, according to the daily health bulletin.

The state also reported 78 fatalities while the case positivity rate was recorded at 11.11%, according to government data.

Yediyurappa, 78, had earlier got tested on April 13 after experiencing symptoms but was ruled Covid negative following which he left for the border district of Belagavi for campaigning for two days, according to the chief minister’s office.

However, on both days (April 13 and 14) Yediyurappa called off his campaign mid-way and returned to his hotel room after feeling uneasy, people in the know of the matter said.

He returned to Bengaluru on Thursday and after taking a day’s rest called for an emergency meeting on Friday morning. At around 11am, he addressed the media as well. A couple of hours later, he was declared Covid-19 positive.

“A medical board of clinical experts has been instituted and currently he is being evaluated and treated for respiratory symptoms. He is cheerful and clinically in a stable condition,” according to a statement by Manipal Hospital.

“Primary contacts such as important leaders who have come in contact with the CM during campaigning will be tested for Covid-19,” Dr CN Manjunath, member of Karnataka’s technical advisory committee on Covid-19, said, adding that those who attended Yediyurappa’s rallies but kept their distance from him were “not at risk”.

“Contact tracing becomes very difficult when you cannot identify or locate people who have come in contact (with a patient). This happens in the case of crowds. However, all those who could be identified should be subjected to an RT-PCR test,” said a senior government official, requesting not to be named.

Karnataka is witnessing a sharp surge in cases lately leading to overburdening of the health infrastructure.

Capital Bengaluru, the worst hit in the state, reported 9,917 new cases and 57 fatalities on Friday. The figure is much higher than the last record high of 5,121 cases reported on October 8, 2020. Experts said the jump was an indication of the rapid transmissibility of the virus in the second wave of infections.

The situation in other parts of the state too continued to deteriorate, data showed.

There were 279 new infections in Ballari, 120 in Belagavi, 358 in Bengaluru Rural, 326 in Bidar, 180 in Chikballapur, 256 in Dakshina Kannada, 176 in Dharwad, 244 in Hassan, 488 in Kalaburagi, 158 in Koppal, 137 in Mandya, 432 in Tumakuru and 207 in Vijayapura on Friday.

The government has imposed a night curfew in about seven district of the state, including Bengaluru.

Yediyurappa on Friday said the state government will take a fresh decision on further curbs before April 20 after meeting with members of the opposition and consulting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He, though, indicated that the night curfew was likely to be extended and imposed on a few other districts as well.

K Sudhakar, Karnataka’s health and family welfare, and medical education minister, said the number of people allowed to participate in gatherings in open and enclosed spaces will be drastically cut down. While only 200 people will now be allowed to attend events in the open (as opposed to 500 earlier), only 100 people will be permitted to gather in enclosed spaces, he said. For funerals, only 25 to 50 people will be allowed at a cremation ground while no more than 25 people will be allowed at cemeteries for burials, according to the government.