Karnataka: After a four-week lull, Davanagere reports third Covid-19 case

DAVANAGERE: For four weeks, Davanagere district had not registered a single Covid-19 case, and was consequently declared a ‘Green Zone’. With the government planning to issue a fresh set of guidelines for a phased resumption of economic activities in safe areas, the district administration was gearing up for the eventuality. However, a fresh case of Covid-19 reported in the district on Wednesday after a prolonged gap has poured hot water over their plans.
This is the third Covid-19 case to be registered in the district. However, with the first two patients who tested positive for the novel coronavirus having recovered and being subsequently discharged, there were no active cases in Davanagere till Wednesday, and the hopes of stakeholders in various businesses who were anticipating a slow, but sure, return to normalcy in the district have now been dashed.
Sources in the district administration said that police were mulling over the possibility of allowing movement of vehicles in and around markets. Incidentally, there was no mention of Davanagere in the morning bulletin released by the state health department. The development was confirmed by the state government in its evening bulletin, one that has come at a most inopportune time for the residents of Davanagere.
Davanagere qualified for the tag of ‘Green Zone’ since not a single case of Covid-19 had been reported in the district since March 27. Ironically, a day after it made it to the list of safe areas, a 35-year-old woman, a nurse at a primary health centre in Davanagere with no travel history, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The patient had an influenza like illness (ILI), and was being treated for the same. She was a resident of Baashanagar, which has now been sealed along with other areas in the neighbourhood. The entire neighbourhood has now been declared ‘containment area’, confirmed Davanagere deputy commissioner Mahantesh Bilagi.
In all, as many as 20 individuals known to be the patient’s primary contacts, including members of her family, have been quarantined at a hotel, and their throat swabs sent to the laboratory for testing. The district administration is working on tracing her secondary contacts. Meanwhile, Bilagi appealed to patients who had been undergoing treatment with the woman at the PHC for the past 15 days, and anyone else who had come in contact with the patient in question report to the designated covid hospital in Davanagere. The PHC at Baashanagar was sealed shut on Wednesday. The DC further said that the lockdown would be enforced stringently following the reporting of the fresh case, and all relaxations of its norms would now be revoked.
- With inputs from SA Gangaraju