Preacher’s infection a mystery, babus in Bagalkot baffled

District officials, who were relieved after unearthing the mystery of infection of the first positive coronavirus case reported a few days ago, have encountered a fresh challenge.
District administration seals off Old Bagalkot Town  | Express
District administration seals off Old Bagalkot Town  | Express

BAGALKOT: District officials, who were relieved after unearthing the mystery of infection of the first positive coronavirus case reported a few days ago, have encountered a fresh challenge. They have not been able to pinpoint exactly how a religious preacher from Gujarat, who has tested positive, contracted the virus. Initially, they thought he might have been infected by a group of 10 people from the madrassa who had travelled to attend the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin, Delhi. But all the 10 have tested negative.

Dr Ananth Desai, District Health Officer, said, “Now, we are on the job of identifying the root cause of the case. We will take screening measures similar to that of Old Bagalkot town and those who were in contact with the 33-year-old male have been quarantined.” The district administration has cordoned off half-a-kilometre radius surrounding the madrassa at Sai Nagar of Mudhol.

On Thursday, 50 people from the madrassa were moved out to the designated hospital to keep them under quarantine. Amid this, three more positive cases were reported in the district, taking the total positive cases to eight, including three minors. All these cases are reported in the last one week with seven cases from two families of old Bagalkot town and another from Mudhol.  

District health authorities partly succeeded in identifying the root cause of infection of a septuagenarian, who breathed his last due to COVID-19 on Friday last, after surveying over 12,300 people in cordoned off areas of old Bagalkot town. The authorities came to know that P164, who is a brother of the deceased, had gone to Kalaburagi city, stayed in an infected area for a couple of days and might have contracted the virus. 

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