5 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Karnataka

Five new positive cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Karnataka, taking the total number of the affected in the state to 88, the Health Department said on Monday.

Till date 88 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes thre deaths and six discharges.

Of the 79 active cases, 78 patients in isolation at designated hospitals are stable and one is on ventilator,' the department said in a bulletin.

It said that of the 88 cases detected and confirmed so far, six were transit passengers who landed at airports in the state and were being treated in hospitals in Karnataka.

All five new cases confirmed since last evening to this afternoon are contacts of a patient already tested positive.

While one of them, a 13-year-old male resident of Tumkur, is the son of a COVID-19 patient, the other four men, ranging in age from 34 years to 24 years, were from Nanjanagud in Mysuru and worked in the same pharmaceutical company, where the patient who recently tested positive, despite no travel or contact history, had worked.

Contact tracing has been initiated for all the cases, the department said.

Among the 88positive cases, 41 were reported from Bengaluru, 12 from Mysuru, eight from Chikkaballapura, seven from Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada, three each from Kalaburgai, Davangere and Udupi, two from Tumakuru, and one each from Kodagu and Dharwad.

All the six discharged patients are from Bengaluru, while one death each was reported in Kalaburgari, Bengaluru and Tumakuru.

Meanwhile, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar in click their selfies using an app and send them to the government every one hour from home.

The selfie or photo will have GPS coordinates so the location of the sender would be known, he said in a release.

If those home quarantined failed to send selfies every one hour (except between 10 PM to 7 AM), then they would be shifted to government created mass quarantine facilities, he said.

Such action would be taken even if wrong photos are sent, he said

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday said ending of the 21 day nationwide lockdown depends on how strictly people follow it, as he urged them to follow the curfew and maintain social distancing.

Earlier, education minister Suresh Kumar said the government has warned private educational institutions of legal action if they do not postpone the admission process and collection of fees for the next academic year, in the wake of the lockdown to fight COVID-19.

Aimed at controlling the spread of virus, the state government on Monday decided to give a push for localised purchase of essential commodities like vegetables and groceries in the city where in people come by foot to buy things and don't use vehicles.

(Image - AP)